FicWad

Shadow sat in Robotnik's lab with probes stuck to his head, chest, and back that were connected to a few different machines. "What is this for?"

Sleet glanced at Robotnik and raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like to have absolute power?" Robotnik asked. "Power to take out that echidna and that other hedgehog?"

Shadow tilted his head to the side. "What's the price?"

"Nothing, just your loyalty to my cause." Robotnik replied.

"Not what I meant." Shadow said.

Robotnik gave Shadow a cup. "Drink this."

Shadow eyed the orange liquid suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Do you want to be awake for painful gene splicing?" Robotnik asked.

"What is gene splicing?" Shadow asked.

"I'm altering your genetics to make you stronger, more powerful than Sonic and Knuckles." Robotnik replied.

Shadow took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Fine." He said. He chugged the liquid down and tossed the cup into the trash.

"Just relax, it'll take effect in a few minutes." Robotnik replied.

Shadow, already starting to feel the effects of the anesthesia, stretched out on the table.

Sleet turned to face Robotnik. "I'll help you take over this planet, but I'm not stupid as Dingo or as power hungry as Shadow to go through something like that."

Robotnik waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, fine." He said, pressing a button on his gauntlet. "I have a large enough army to take over this rock."

Some robots came in and started the gene splicing procedure on Shadow.

"Sir, with all due respect, Shadow isn't quite an army no matter how powerful he is now." Sleet replied.

"No, but I recently found the Chaos Emerald mine." Robotnik said. "My robots have brought quite a few here to me. Shadow will bring the rest. Now, your job is to search for a Mobian thief to steal the Master Emerald for me while my army keeps Sonic and Knuckles busy."

"A thief?" Sleet asked.

Robotnik handed Sleet a file. "Here is all the info my spy bots and Shadow gave me on your quarry."

Sleet flipped through the dossier. "You could probably get him to take a deal." He said. "Nikós is a poor street kid like his father. Now what about this army of yours?"

Robotnik pressed another button on his gauntlet.

Another door whooshed open.

An army of robots that looked like Sonic marched out.

"This is the Metal Sonics." Robotnik asked. "Created with a sample of Sonic's DNA collected by one of my spy bots.

"Impressive, sir." Sleet replied.
*
Shadow woke up in another room. He sat up and dangled his legs off of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Robotnik asked.

"Fine." Shadow said. He had this feeling like he had to pledge his loyalty to Robotnik, but wasn't about to give into it. He wasn't about to let anyone control him.

Robotnik's eyes widened briefly. That's all?"

"Yes." Shadow replied.

Robotnik sighed. "Oh, well." He muttered. "Anyway, I have cured you of your concussion. You're stronger, faster, and I have made you some air shoes."

Shadow got up.

"Let's get you into training." Robotnik said, tossing the shoes to Shadow. He handed two silver bands to Shadow. "These will fire blasts of Chaos energy. All you have to do is think of firing a shot."

Shadow smirked.

"Alright." Robotnik said, motioning for Shadow to follow him. "Let's get you in training."

As they were walking down the corridor, Shadow noticed a couple of maintenance bots carrying out a large body bag.

Shadow looked at the body bag. "Who is that?"

"Dingo." Robotnik said. "He had some gene mutations that caused some complications with the gene splicing procedure."

Shadow winced.

"Now what do you know about Nikós hedgehog?" Robotnik asked. "Would he be willing to join our side for the right price?"

Shadow shrugged. "Hard to say." He replied. "He's a poor street kid and a petty thief, but almost everyone has lines they don't want to cross

"We'll cross that bridge when Sleet brings him to us." Robotnik said, opening the door with his keycard.