The audio book version can be found here: https://youtu.be/wETXQSzOI6Q

Metropolis was Eggman’s city. It had several tall buildings of unconventional shapes. The city was crawling with robots and many mechanical parts were strewn about without care. Polluted smoke filled the air in a thick, black fog. Eggman had not made any moves to clean this city up. That would require caring about an environment he planned to pave over once he took complete control.

There were robotic guards patrolling for any intruders. With the continual problems with Sonic, Eggman has been upgrading his robots to be better at dealing with the blue nuisance and his friends.

Skating around the city at a high speed, a black streak bulldozed through robots and seemed to be raising havoc in the streets. Shadow dashed this way and that, having one goal on his mind: find Eggman. He was pretty determined as this was an emergency case. The news report played over and over in his head as he took down the guards with Chaos Spears. If his hunch was right… It couldn’t be, could it? There was a slim chance, very slim. But Shadow wasn’t going to pass it up, just in case.

Right after blasting one robot to the side via Chaos Spear, a much larger robot suddenly jumped into the scene, almost stomping on Shadow. Shadow dashed out of the way just in the nick of time. Instead of wasting time to take revenge on the robot, Shadow decided that it was best to just keep running forward. Time was crucial. Fighting this large robot would take too much time.

Shadow veered off to a ramp which took him to an upper level that resembled a highway. This path had less robots but it did not mean it was any less dangerous. The robots here were even faster as Eggman had predicted that Sonic would prefer these roads to unleash his high speed. Running along this highway-like strip, Shadow shifted his eyes to the side to look at the city below. He wanted to make sure that he was going the right way as this was Shadow’s first time taking the highway route. A good chunk of the smog entered his lungs as Shadow could finally get a good run and he coughed in response.

Shadow didn’t have a lot of time. He sprinted through the highway strip and right after reaching the other side, he dove into a secluded alley, getting his bearings. Lifting an aged tire iron in his right hand, he looked up, suddenly covering his ears as sirens blared off. He managed to stumble into a small, empty service-station.

With his destructive entrance into Metropolis, Shadow has caught the attention of several robots which were emptying into the streets. Even the ones that were not patrolling the city for security purposes were on the alert. They all have been programmed to go after anyone who wasn’t part of the Eggman army. They swarmed to Shadow’s location from different directions. Some of the robots were runners and some were flyers while others used wheels for mobility. They all had the same goal in mind: destroy the intruder.

Locking the door, Shadow felt confident that would buy him a little time. Turning around, he began to look through an array of security camera feeds. Trailing his finger along one screen, he saw a particular feed that was close by. “Storage” read the label. It was in the area, but that would mean going back out outside. More fights to slow him down.

He turned his head to look at a vent, mentally estimating its size in relation to his own. Seemed a fair guess he would be able to fit.

Slipping the tire-iron in a belt loop, Shadow lifted his hands and grasped the sides, pulling the edges away. Tossing the metal grate to the floor, he hopped into the enclosed space, crawling around in the dusty, dark vents. As the security terminal was small, he emerged in a small garage that housed a flier-vehicle, specifically for the robotic guards that needed to go on patrol through the skies. Hefting his only effective hand weapon, the tire iron, he set a hand on the doorhandle that would let him out into the city. "EXIT" glowed in green text right above the door.

As soon as he stepped outside, one of the Egg-Robos was out there to greet Shadow by firing a bullet at him. With Shadow’s quick reflexes, he was able to avoid the bullet and it hit the ground between his feet. The Egg-Robo, and many other robots, began to charge at Shadow from their positions. Egg-Robo fired more bullets at Shadow as it used its rocket to sail through the air. Not the quickest of the robots but still annoying enough.

Shadow wasn’t about to just stand around and dodge bullets all day. He reeled back and began to swing his weapon with force. His attacks consisted mainly of kicks, followed by swinging the heavy, sturdy tire-iron. The tire iron was comprised of high carbon steel, and while Eggman’s robots were comprised of metal, they had numerous vulnerabilities when struck in the right areas. However, one of the rockets exploded right behind Shadow, propelling him forwards and knocked him off his feet.

His vision was blurred as he found himself on the ground. He heard a lengthy, loud ringing in his ears. He couldn’t hear anything as he struggled to get up to his feet, wobbling this way and that. Most of the robots that were in the area with Shadow during the explosion had been blown to bits. Their parts were scattered around on the ground, adding to the ever-growing trash of the city. The robots that weren’t blown to bits were set on self-repair.

Shadow shook his head and made his way towards the nearest building.

The building Shadow neared wasn’t the tallest building in Metropolis but it was wide so it took up a lot of ground space. After entering this building, its purpose wasn’t clear. There were a lot of computers along the walls of the wide, open room, but nothing to indicate what they were doing. It didn’t matter to Shadow anyway.

Disoriented, Shadow’s body was still reeling from the blast. Explosions never jolted Shadow in the past; he had grown tough and accustomed to them thanks to the numerous GUN missions and having to battle Eggman so many times. But this one had exploded very near him. For a while, his body was lurched forwards, his left hand gripping the edge of the doorway while he recovered. After a minute, he lifted his chin and straightened himself, slowly walking through the building. His hearing recovered and his vision reset to normal.

Finding that he had lost the tire iron during the explosion, he was going to have to rely on his abilities until he could find a substitute. Shadow glanced at the computer screens on the wall but didn’t see any security camera feeds. He turned away. Where was the Storage?

CLAK CLAK CLAK

A few worker robots ran down the hall towards Shadow to make an attack on him. They weren’t meant for battling but rather for running machinery and operating computers. But they can sometimes come up with a surprise or two so they should never be taken too lightly.

One of the worker robots had brought with it a laser gun. These types of robots didn’t come with built-in weaponry so outside sources were necessary. It tried its best to hit Shadow with its weapon but any that hit the computers or lights, it short circuited the object. The lights that were hit went out, making the room darker with each hit.

Shadow leapt up and performed a jump-kick. Focusing much of his body weight on his right foot, Shadow lunged for where the latter of the two would have been had it continued to advance. He didn’t expect the armed one to come any closer than it had to which would reduce its companion to up close combat.

The robot that was kicked went sailing into one of the larger computer systems on the side in the wall. It busted through the wall casing of the computer and the electricity surged through its new opening. The worker robot was electrocuted into submission.

The armed worker robot tried once more to make contact on Shadow with the laser gun but failed again. The laser hit another one of the computers after Shadow darted to the side to avoid it. This time, the whole room of equipment went dead. The computer must have been what was powering the room.

Shadow decided that it was probably best to keep running and find the exit. Running along through the dark halls, his adrenaline kicked back in. At this point, he just wanted to finish this and get out. His red eyes began to adjust to the dark. Dodging crates and trolleys, Shadow looked around for any door or opening to another area.

Surprisingly, the worker robots Shadow faced in the first room seemed to be all that was for security in this building. This must be the right place. But why did security seem to be so weak? Was this whole thing a trap? Usually Dr Eggman was good about keeping the press away and yet they were able to get so close and survived to tell the tale. Shadow was sure Eggman wanted the press to catch him. Lower security meant he wanted someone to get through.

Definitely a trap.

Each door on the left and right only seemed to lead to more computer rooms. At the end of the hall, though, was an elevator to the upper floors. The elevator had one more robot but its primary function was to operate the device, so it posed no threat to Shadow nor would it try to. It didn’t have the programming for battles.

Shadow started to slow down as he neared the elevator, eying the robot cautiously. Determining that it wasn’t much of a threat, he just looked up towards the ceiling. His head slowly turned to see a pipe-end on the wall nearby. Gripping it, he roughly pulled it away from the wall. Steam and water-vapors sprayed from the opening. Shadow stepped away and looked over his new-found weapon. Then he boarded the elevator with the robot.

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