#where's that DAMN fourth chaos emerald

[moobloom-mention]

Nothing in Life is Guaranteed (Except for Statis and Uncertainty)

*WARNING: Sonic 3 spoilers ahead*

Summary: Through all the panic and confusion, Shadow can only focus on one thing. Maria isn't waking up.

Why isn't she waking up?

Content Warning(s): Implied Character Death, Violence, Angst

Word Count: 1203

Don't you just hate it when a "new" fandom grabs your shoulders and violently shakes you while you're working on 5 different LMK prompts.

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Yelling.

It's the first noise that manages to cut through the shrill, high-pitched ring echoing through two black, twitching ears. Soldiers are calling for unintelligible things, their commands drowned easily by the mindless crackle of nearby fire still eating away at whatever source of fuel it'd found.

The flames wouldn't last long. Not when the only other source of fuel was the cold metal of the base's sterile flooring and walls.

Shadow's gloved fists shake. With anger or fear, he knows not of which the loss of control over his limbs stem from. He can only stare, eyes wide as his fingers carefully brush over soft, blonde strands of hair he'd braided so many times before. The same strands he'd always been lightly scolded at for rolling onto between movies.

It wavers at the first gust of wind that blows from the base's newly opened doors. At the first sign that- despite what Shadow had convinced himself -the world had not stopped the moment maroon eyes had laid upon her limp body.

"Maria?"

Shadow barely suppresses a flinch as one of Maria's hands jerk, pupils blown wide at the movement. He'd be a fool not to recognize the flicker of hope such a small thing ignites. The same flicker so reminiscent of an old lighter the Professor had held onto from his years in Germany.

He could almost hear the signature click of the lighter's cap closing when another movement suffocates the emotion until only numbness remains.

Clenched tightly around one of Maria's pale hands is another person's dusted with ash, the grey spots lining its skin all too familiar. He must have startled the Professor with his voice.

"Shadow," the Professor pleads, his voice far too hoarse.

Black ears press themselves flat against his skull.

Faintly he can feel his heart begin to pound against his ribcage. This isn't how the Professor is meant to act. He isn't meant to be so soft-spoken, voice thick with an emotion Shadow cannot- no, that he refuses to name.

Where is the Professor's determined attitude from only minutes before? His jovial personality that Shadow had assumed Maria had inherited?

Why isn't he asking Shadow to fetch medical equipment? Why isn't he waking her up-?

Someone touches his shoulder.

At an instant Shadow recoils, his eyes sparking with bolts of red as he turns to punch whoever had dared to disrupt this moment- to defend Maria's state of unnerving rest.

But his fist never connects with its intended target. It instead freezes once his eyes lock onto the darkened gaze of Captain Walters, the man's expression twisted in an emotion Shadow had never before seen from the man.

Not in Shadow's first "escape" from his stasis chamber with Maria's help. Nor in the shrieks of surprise and anger that typically followed Maria and Shadow's escapades around the base.

Captain Walters had only ever looked at them with a sense of joy and amusement. Had always extended a hand whenever Maria pleaded for him to assist them with their hijinks.

Shadow could describe the man in many terms, but "afraid" was not one of them. Especially not of Shadow.

And yet the man Shadow had only ever known as nothing if not a friendly face stands with his shoulders tense, his stance unpracticed as he'd yet to compensate for just how violently he'd flinched away from Shadow's fist.

...he'd never done that before.

Shadow forces his quills to lay flat. Perhaps Captain Walters had only wished to help Maria, and tapped Shadow's shoulder to get his attention.

He swallows his newfound guilt with a thick swallow, hands twitching with uncertainty of what to do with them.

"Captain-"

Shadow's words clip into a high-pitched yelp as hot flashes of pain suddenly overwhelm his mind. A sheet of white blinds his vision, his eyes blinking erratically until he finally finds his gaze much closer to the ground than it had been before.

He must've fallen, his limbs twitching as his teeth click together with a painful hiss.

When he glances back toward Captain Walters, an unfamiliar soldier has replaced the man, their gloved hands twisted tightly around a long stick crackling with electricity. Shadow could only glare furiously over the unjust use of such a weapon.

He hadn't attacked Captain Walters- in fact, he hadn't attacked anyone. Why were they focused on subduing him? Why weren't they helping Maria-?

Unintelligible words of protest begin to tumble from Shadow's muzzle as rough hands yank at his still-twitching arms, hoisting him from where he'd originally fallen.

His teeth ache from how hard he clenches his jaw, his attempt to struggle from the grip dispersing the moment another soldier stabs the electric weapon once more into his side.

The world spins when the hands finally drop him to something cold, his forehead pressing into the surface with a brief sigh of relief. The temperature feels nice against the hot flashes of pain still striking through his limbs.

Shadow lets himself rest for a moment before he readjusts himself to sit on his legs, eyes fluttering open to find the bars of a cage.

He barely has a moment to comprehend the arrangement before the cage screeches, his ears twitching erratically against the grating noise. The cage's door shuts with a violent clang and Shadow almost finds solace in how heavy his limbs feel, the shocks having rendered his flinch imperceptible to the nearby soldiers.

You need to relax, the Professor's voice tells him. Let them focus of Maria instead of you.

With a groan Shadow cranes his head upward, desperate to catch a glimpse of whatever was occurring amidst the chaotic flames and swarms of soldiers.

People were still yelling commands through the smoke-filled hall. Scientists coated in ash were now pushing past them in a desperate attempt to escape the bunker.

And the Professor-

Confusion suddenly clashes with the vibrant pain of whatever electric shock they’d administered. He stumbles to his feet, his gloves wrapping around the bars of his cage as he tries to fit his muzzle between them. Because surely this- it can’t be happening.  

The Professor is being lifted from the ground by two armed soldiers, his hands twisted behind his back and tied with metal cuffs. His shoulders remain untensed as he stumbles onto his feet, the unsteady rise and fall of the Professor’s chest an unnerving sight.  

What’s even worse is that the man doesn’t fight as they begin to guide him away. As they begin to drag him away from Maria.  

“Professor,” he croaks out, voice still hoarse. “They- They have to help her-”  

Why aren’t they helping her?

He tries to reach out when the armed soldiers pass by his cage. He swears he could feel the brush of the Professor’s newly torn coat before the entire cage comes to life with a blinding blue flash, pain ricocheting through his muscles. His vision swims before his limbs twist themselves to make way for how he falls back to the bottom of his cage, a groan escaping between grit teeth.  

“Professor-” he tries again between his rigid gasps for air. 

The man doesn't even spare a glance as Shadow's consciousness finally slips from the scene.

[worseperson]

Shadow has such a specific style of writing to him. He talks like an edgy kid 8 year old who just discovered bad words. You'd think he would be PG 13 but he's limited to a solid PG 11 at most and can't actually swear

[s0und-of-snow]

Got the idea from @scribz-ag24

[muffyrock]

“They say before you start a war / You better know what you're fighting for…”

-Angel with a Shotgun by The Cab

[mmthemayoarts]

the hogs won't fix my art block but they make me smile and that means y'all will have to deal with it xD

[ghostpebble]

double the fish in the pond

Big the Cat is bisexual.

[radkatzzstuff]

why is crowfeather collecting cats from each clan like chaos emeralds

[hikkoins]

Where’s that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?

[ravenmspaint]

[robotn1k]

I know we haven't interacted yet but you're super amazing and I love seeing you on my dash giving me so much good content. I'm like that Gordon Ramsey meme where he's like "finally some good fucking food" I love it. And you're super cool.

okay but the absolute same to you 🥺 I absolutely adore seeing your shadow and think you have such cool takes on his character and I also really hope we write soon, too. I also also hope that your 2025 is a good one, as we all deserve some happiness in the coming months.

[ultimumvitae]

So Shadow do you have a name for that damned 4th chaos emerald? do you talk to it sometimes? is it... your friend?

          "Yes. I call it 'the fourth Chaos Emerald'." Shadow shakes his head. The questions these guys come up with... "No, and no."

[transsonicfan2006]

Do you think that shadow only knows the E10+ swear words like Damn and hell? I think it would be funny if the only reason he doesn't say fuck is simply because no one has ever said it with him around because everyone else doesn't feel the need to.

[sonichedgeblog]

You've heard the quote a million times, but tell me.. just where exactly IS that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald? Support us on Patreon

[zombielesbean]

never ceases to amuse me that the game Shadow the Hedgehog has a reputation as being like, over the top edgy and tonally inconsistent with the rest of the sonic series, pretty much just due to its outward appearances/intro and the fact it has guns in it, but when you actually play it it feels just like any other sonic game like

sure there's guns but like the majority of them are brightly colored cartoon weapons like these

and, they don't even factor into gameplay all that much, like, sometimes you'll be shooting, but most of the time you're just playing a sonic game

the game has you teaming up with such serious, edgy characters as.. charmy bee

even the infamous "where's that damn fourth chaos emerald" line takes place on the fucking clown circus level

it does however involve things like being able to kill the president, so like. it's not completely without over the top edginess. but it is more of a normal sonic game than people seem to think

also if you couldn't tell I love the game a lot actually, I don't really like the mission structure and how repetitive it can get replaying things over and over to get to the true ending, but it was definitely worth experiencing once imo, and I still always fondly remember my playthrough of it

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

Guess we know where that damn fourth chaos emerald that Shadow lost in the beginning of Sonic Prime S2 ended up after falling in the void /j

[squidkid15]

My Wishlist for Sonic 3 but it gets increasingly less likely to actually happen

"Faker" is used at least once

Maria gets shot just BARELY off screen in 4k

Live and Learn. Somewhere.

Someone mistakes Shadow for Sonic at least once

Shadow commits at least 3 crimes.

Shadow kicks Sonic's ass at least once.

Sonic, ofc, returns the favor.

SUPER SHADOW

City Escape. Somewhere. The level, the music, the premise. Something.

Sonic is the first one to mention something about Shadow maybe not actually being that bad of a guy

Sonic and Co get to space by just fully breaking into a government facility and stealing a rocket

Sonic is the one to talk Shadow out of his 'destroy the world' mentality

Tom talking him down would also be really cool

Shadow doesn't die at the end, but there is a fun fakeout.

Shadow doesn't die at the end, and its because Sonic grabs him as he's falling the way every fanart ever reimagines the scene

Chaos Emerald/Energy explanation

Fake Chaos Emerald/Sonic using Chaos Control

"It's not his speed, he must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp!"

The Tear ™️

Pumpkin Hill music

Someone mistakes Shadow for Sonic at least twice. (But once is Eggman, second is Tom or someone equally close)

Followup, if it is someone close to Sonic we get a Shadow chuckle and a "that's/you're not Sonic..."

Shadow is played as Eggman's second for the first half of the movie and isn't treated as the main big bad until like the middle/end of the second act

Reference the treasure hunting levels

Shadow is increasingly baffled by Sonic's everything, eventually culminating in the movie version of their conversation on the conveyors in the ARK. "What you see is what you get! Just a guy that loves adventure! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Shadow smiles at the end. Just a little one.

Bonus if Sonic ribs him for it and the smile falls immediately

Bonus bonus if Sonic gets punched for it

MENTION THE BLACK ARMS. PLEASE. REFERNCE IT AT MINIMUM.

Shadow getting painful flashbacks in the style of his game, the grimace and then into the flashback

Sonic getting the shoes???

Rouge??? Rouge???

The "Faker" conversation plays out beat for beat line for line

"Where's that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald"

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