Resurgence (Shadow x Reader)

Chapter 30: Resurgence

Their faces told the story: Everyone knew.

They stepped off the ship, but there was no relief in touching solid ground. Just the crushing reality of the situation.

Shadow didn't even glance at the crowd.

He had nothing to say.

Before they were sent to medical, a familiar figure stepped forward.

Dom.

His usual sharp, commanding presence was dimmed, his expression unreadable. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I know how much she meant to you." His voice was quieter than usual, lacking his usual authoritative edge. "To all of us."

Shadow stiffened at the past tense.

"She's alive." Dom continued, his gaze firm. "And we're going to find her."

Shadow's hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Damn right, they were.

✮⋆˙𖦹🎧✮⋆˙𖦹ᯓ★

Returning to Earth should have been a relief.

Instead, it only revealed how much worse things had gotten.

The Xyrrathians had perfected their phasing technology. No longer were they confined to attacking through intergalactic means—they were here. On Earth. Invading.

Cities were falling. Resources were being stripped away. AEGIS was spread thin, scrambling to protect what little they could.

Y/n was gone.

And the world was burning.

There was no time to grieve. No time to process. The moment they returned, they were thrown back into the fight.

Shadow's unit was tasked with containing or eliminating any Xyrrathians they could capture. Rouge and the Chaotix were handed newly developed stealth tech to infiltrate enemy strongholds. Sonic and Knuckles spent hours in the training facilities, drilling new recruits on how to survive an encounter with the Xyrrathians.

But Tails...

Tails had buried himself in his lab.

He barely spoke to anyone, emerging only for necessary briefings before disappearing back into his work. He reviewed every transmission, every past mission log, looking for anything that could tell them where Y/n had been taken.

He wasn't alone.

Shadow and Sonic had joined him one afternoon, reviewing potential containment measures for captured Xyrrathians when Tails suddenly went rigid.

His fur bristled, his gloved hands trembling over the console.

"She's not anywhere in the universe."

Sonic blinked. "What?"

Tails' fingers flew across the keyboard, screens lighting up with incomprehensible data. His voice quickened, breathless with realization.

"She's not anywhere I can track. No transmissions. No signals. Nothing. Which means she's not in a place I can track." He turned to face them, eyes wide. "The only place that blocks Earth-made transmissions—"

"—is the Xyrrathian homeworld," Shadow finished.

A heavy silence fell over them.

Then, all at once, they moved.

They had to tell Dom.

✮⋆˙𖦹🎧✮⋆˙𖦹ᯓ★

Everything moved at lightning speed.

Dom authorized the mission within hours. AEGIS couldn't afford to waste time. If Y/n was being held on the Xyrrathian homeworld, there was no telling how much time she had left.

The same team was assigned—Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, and Amy, this time more prepared than ever.

But this time, they weren't just searching.

They were retrieving her.

Failure was not an option.

Tails threw himself into upgrading their ship, ensuring it was equipped with everything they would need. Stealth cloaking to avoid detection. Enhanced shielding to withstand enemy fire. Advanced weaponry, fine-tuned to counter Xyrrathian defenses.

Shadow didn't wait for departure.

He trained.

Every single day, pushing himself harder than ever before. He couldn't afford to be anything less than perfect. Every second counted. Every moment he wasn't getting stronger was a moment wasted.

Sonic wasn't far behind.

The thought of Y/n—alone, trapped, waiting for them— made every second feel agonizing.

And when the two weeks had finally passed, when their ship was loaded and ready for departure, they all stood together, more determined than ever.

Shadow finally broke his silence.

"We're bringing her home."

No one disagreed.

And with that, they left Mobius behind once more, charting a course for the Xyrrathian homeworld.

They were coming for her.