Mission 1: Arctic Love

"Mission 1: Arctic Love" (氷の嵐 - Icy Storm of Love) is the second chapter/episode of Lost. Its story is a combination of elements found in Disney's Frozen as well as small easter eggs from C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series, Japanese manga and anime Fairy Tail and Disney's Beauty and the Beast (most notably the 2017 remake).

Characters

 * Team Universe
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Maria Robotnik
 * Kingdom of Ice
 * King Sonic
 * Queen Antarctica
 * Prince Gale
 * Princess Flurry
 * Princess Snowflake
 * Princess Blizzard
 * Prince Storm
 * Ewiln
 * Daren
 * Delphine
 * Wendel
 * Mera
 * Clawdia
 * Quill
 * Dr. Tabby
 * Snow Mountain Rebels
 * Zara Acorn
 * Princess Alexa
 * Rosalind
 * Cutlass
 * Infinite
 * Aiden
 * Aissa (mentioned)
 * King Edward (mentioned)
 * Lady Consort Meghan Acorn (mentioned)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (alternate self, mentioned)
 * Aeon
 * Aethon (mentioned)
 * Cosmo the Seedrian (mentioned)

Locations

 * Eternal Winter Zone
 * Snow Mountain Village
 * Ice Castle
 * Sky of Time
 * Time Citadel
 * Avaritia (mentioned)

Themes
Opening Theme: "Color" by MARiA

Insert Song: "Hold Me" by Fabid Mammadov

Ending Theme: "Be as One" by w-inds

Sypnosis
Shadow and Maria enter the Eternal Winter Zone and are faced with a cold war between rebels and a force of arctickinetic kingdom. The two try confronting the source of the problem: the King of this winter kingdom, an alternate Sonic, only for the war to quickly escalate. In the middle of this winter wasteland, Shadow is then faced with a desperate moral decision that tests his resolve.

Plot
Shadow and Maria arrive in Snow Mountain Village in the Eternal Winter Zone, only to land in a snowdrift. Feeling the immense cold, Shadow yells at Aeon for not providing winter gear, only for her to hear his complaints and for her to dress the two up in warm outfits. They then head into the village itself where it's like a ghost town. Maria feels that something isn't right with the place and Shadow internally agrees. The two then get called over by Zara, who scolds them for being out in the open. Shadow introduces himself and Maria to Zara who mistakes him for the Shadow of her dimension but is quickly corrected. Rosalind then appears and states they best hide due to guards being in the area. They hide behind some barrels as they see two guards, Ewlin and Daren, doing their daily patrols. A young boy, Aiden, then throws a snowball at Ewiln and gets caught, but Daren convinces Ewiln to let Aiden go. Ewiln begrudgingly complies with his partner but gets pissed off when Aiden remarks that a girl called Alexa should be Queen.

At the command of Ewiln, Daren calls the King to report an act of treason and Shadow shudders at the way the Universe's Sonic talks to Aiden: a mixture of his typical slanged English and villainy. Aiden apologizes but doesn't get let off the hook. He is then asked to choose: be turned into a snowman and slowly freeze to death or be locked up in Sonic's dungeon and be tortured. Aiden quickly chooses the snowman, ticking Sonic off, believing the dungeon to be a more rational choice. Aiden then screams during the transformation and Sonic darkly asks Ewiln and Daren to leave him alone for a while. As the guards go about their patrol once again, Zara explains how Sonic became the way he is. Following their ARK incident 15 years ago, Sonic lost control of his emotions following an emotional breakdown after learning he had developed romantic feelings for his Shadow and felt betrayed when the Overland, and the later the Acorn Kingdom, became drawing up plans to cover up the incident and erasing his Shadow's very existence. Snapping, Sonic went on a murderous rampage and killed the entirety of the Acorn Kingdom Central Government, including Zara's brother and sister-in-law Edward and Meghan. Sonic's broken heart manifested into reality when he came into contact with a jewel called the Frost Diamond which affected him with a condition called Emotional Detachment. His powers consumed their Mobius and he became king unofficially, leaving Zara as head of the Rebels and carer to her only surviving relative: her niece, Alexa.

Shadow expresses both hatred and sympathy towards Sonic at this point and suggests a better way of removing him from power: a democratic talk between him and Sonic due to him looking like this universe's Shadow, not wanting to kill someone after remembering the time he almost killed a small girl called Cosmo after finding her being a secret spy for a villainous alien group. Zara and Rosalind dismiss the plan but eventually agree to it. The two then head up to the castle and easily gain entry due to Shadow's appearance. Upon entering the courtyard, Shadow finds the statue of himself with cyan rose bouquets and a plaque saying ''"Here lies Shadow, a hero to only me alone. May he forever rest in peace". ''This cements Shadow's belief that Sonic is more innocent than villain and the two meet Mera, a servant who begins leading them to the throne room, only for an explosion to go off. She and other guards go to find the source, returning 10 minutes later. Mera explains that Sonic's powers go out of control when he feels intense emotions, either positive and negative, meaning the energy overload weakens his body to a point where he is bed-ridden for a small amount of time. The three arrive at Sonic's chambers and guards Delphine and Wendel let them in. Sonic kindly addresses them and Shadow notes this. Maria lets slip that they saw what happened to Aiden, scaring Sonic. Shadow calms him down and learns that Sonic already knows that the Shadow before him isn't his Shadow due to some minor appearance differences. He then loses consciousness due to a high nervous fever.

Shadow and Maria are ordered to wait outside by Dr. Tabby and they meet Sonic's "wife", Queen Antarctica. She, at first, accuses them of hurting Sonic but then apologizes when proven wrong. Flurry and Blizzard then come running, with Flurry throwing a snowball at her sister so hard she falls over, and Flurry is grounded by her mother. Blizzard happily greets the two before tottering off to find Snowflake, her other sister. Gale then rushes over, having heard from Flurry about his stepfather's illness but is reassured by his mother, much to his relief (Gale is Antarctica's son from a previous marriage). He then eyes Shadow and the two almost fight, but Gale backs down. Shadow makes a mental note to watch him after Antarctica notes his confrontational attitude towards others.

The next morning, Shadow goes to explore the castle, only to hear singing. Shadow tracks it to the ballroom, where he sees Sonic crying at the piano, though he stops once he sees Shadow. The two converse and bond, with Shadow filling Sonic in on his mission. Mentioning Infinite scares Sonic slightly and the tale of the Plates confuse him but he understands the main concepts. However, he collapses. Shadow, alarmed and scared for Sonic's life, escorts him back to his chambers with assistance from Delphine and Wendel and the two call for Dr. Tabby immediately. Tasked with staying with Sonic, Shadow discovers a half-drunk cup of cold tea and tastes it, ultimately realizing it had been tampered with and poisoned with a weak form of cyanide, which he informs Dr. Tabby about. Luckily, he has a serum able to neutralize any poison and quickly cures Sonic. The two round up everyone in the hall to discuss who the assassin could be. Suspicion quickly falls on Mera, who delivered the tea but she is cleared by Clawdia, who saw a grey-tailed hooded male slip the poison in and she failed to intercept Mera due to her conflicting duties. Shadow realizes the assassin was Gale and he admits it, claiming that he would kill his entire family to get the crown due to his illegitimacy, seeing as Sonic is not his father unlike his step-siblings. He then throws knives at everyone as he leaves. Maria theorizes that Gale is the main villain and defeating him will earn them the Plate. Shadow agrees but goes to check on Sonic.

Shadow reluctantly wakes Sonic up, who is still weak from the poison's effects, and breaks the news that not only was he poisoned, but his attempted killer was his own son (or someone he saw as a son). Sonic angrily denies it but eventually accepts it. The ground then rumbles (with Shadow noting that is going to be a trend throughout the adventure, which is a small fourth-wall break) and Shadow sees Infinite attacking the village below. Not only that, but a mob led by Gale and Zara is heading to the castle. Upon hearing this, Sonic panics and refuses to listen to Shadow, tormented by the fact he looks nearly identical to his Shadow. While Shadow agrees he isn't the Shadow Sonic fell in love with 15 years ago, he could still fulfill his counterpart's wish by keeping Sonic alive. Sonic tearfully thanks Shadow and directs him to a bunker that only he knows about, though he expresses horror at learning Shadow's plan to distract Infinite long enough for him to get bored and for him to leave the dimension, though he promises to stay put. Shadow does indeed distract Infinite, but his taunts prove his downfall as Infinite gets angry and manages to grab Shadow by the throat. Unable to wiggle free nor fight Infinite, Shadow realizes that Infinite is much more powerful than he thought he was and blacks out, hearing Infinite's laughs.

Much to his surprise, he manages to regain consciousness in Sonic's chambers, with a bandaged and tearful Sonic shaming him for scaring him. Shadow learns that Aeon sent a telepathic message to Sonic to save him seeing as Maria wouldn't have stood a chance. Shadow thanks Sonic for saving his life but the sweet moment is ruined by a guard running in without knocking to report that not only has the rebels reached the castle grounds but Gale is fighting alongside them. Sonic corrects him by saying he is no longer related to the Crown and orders him to leave. Sonic starts monologuing and tells Shadow that he'll only get the Plate if he allows Sonic to die, thus restoring summer and saving his Mobius. Shadow rejects this idea, not wanting to let anyone else die but Sonic only laughs, saying he'll let Zara or Alexa kill him (whichever gets the fatal shot first, he says) before teleporting away. Noting Sonic's slow descent into madness after hearing screams, Shadow rushes to help.

On the way, Shadow bumps into a relieved Maria, who is happy Shadow is alive. Before the two can stop the battle in the courtyard, the two are ambushed by a seemingly insane Gale, who is holding a bloody white blanket. Shadow remembers Sonic and Antarctica have a young son called Storm, who is only a few months old, and he realizes Gale has mercilessly killed him. Gale admits this freely, gloating about the psychological trauma his stepfather felt upon seeing his dead baby, who he had killed by slitting his throat. Shadow then tells Gale what his Sonic had gone through and vows to not let another version of Sonic suffer anymore. The conversation is interrupted by Gale suddenly choking. Despite his best efforts to remove the object around his neck, he is unable to and suffocates, collapsing dead. His killer is actually Flurry, who choked him with her skipping rope. Maria goes up to thank her but she doesn't like people touching her. Their exchange is again halted by another ambush, this time by Rosalind who has Blizzard in a tight headlock. Flurry orders Rosalind to let her sister go and vows to protect her father's kingdom, only for Rosalind to mock Flurry's fighting spirit. In order to make Flurry back down, Rosalind easily snaps Blizzard's neck, killing her instantly. As she leaves smugly, Shadow mercilessly shoots her in the head, calling her a monster for killing such a young child. At that moment, Sonic comes running, having heard the commotion. He expresses surprise at Flurry's murder but shock at seeing his youngest daughter's corpse. He gently cradles her and howls, apologizing to her for not being able to save her.

The group then hear screaming, which Sonic recognizes as Snowflake. Paranoid and not wanting to lose his entire family, Sonic and Flurry run off, followed by Shadow and Maria. As they enter the Grand Hall, they see a half-conscious Snowflake and a frenzied Alexa, whom Shadow easily guesses by her resemblance to Zara. Sonic stabilizes Snowflake while Shadow and Flurry work together to kill Alexa. Snowflake starts losing conscious but Sonic soothes her. Shadow asks where Antarctica is and Snowflake hints to her death, stating Gale killed her through blunt force trauma. The gang gets ambushed for a third time by Zara and Sonic suspects Shadow had planned this all along since Zara addresses him as a conspirator but the misunderstanding is quickly cleared up. Angry at her plan going awry, she orders Cutlass to kill Flurry and, when Sonic is distracted fighting him, she holds Snowflake at ransom. Sonic begs Zara to spare Snowflake on the grounds she hasn't done anything to Zara, but Zara impales her anyway, stating that she has Sonic's "traitorous blood". Sonic cradles his last child before she dies. Impressed by the state of things, Zara attempts to shoot Shadow for his betrayal, only for Sonic to shield him. However, his actions cause the bullet to hit his heart, fatally wounding him. Shadow condemns him for the reckless move but Sonic welcomes death, going back to his earlier speech. He also makes Shadow promise to defeat Infinite, which he does so. With a small smile, Sonic dies and the Ice Castle dissolves as summer returns to Snow Mountain Village and Mobius.

During this whole exchange, Shadow expresses his despair and anger at the situation, confused on why he feels the way he does. He even sheds some tears, much to his embarrassment but no-one sees. Zara celebrates the summer but Maria cuts her short, now activating her own powers and deduces that Zara also loved Sonic despite his heart being forever with his Shadow. After being asked to say the truth, Zara agrees that she had always loved Sonic and was angry that a strange black hedgehog had stolen his heart. To that extent, she blackmailed the Government, including her brother, to copy the Overland and cover up the ARK incident's true events as well as the involvement of Project: Shadow. In the end, Sonic never went insane, but only wanted revenge for the seemingly sudden betrayal. She also states that their Shadow was also immortal and would have had to live through Sonic's entire lifetime. She asks how Shadow bares it seeing as he too is immortal, but Shadow calmly replies that making memories is better than forever being alone, even if it is painful. Maria states she has heard enough and uses her Water Lock spell to drown Zara. However, her powers control her and she creates a mallet and begins dealing unnecessary damage but is snapped out of her trance by Shadow.

With everything said and done, the two realize Sonic's crown is glowing and it transformed into a gold and silver metallic heart: a Soul Plate. Shadow laments at how many lives the Plate cost in the end, which is backed up by the sudden appearance of Infinite. However, instead of attacking, Infinite expresses humor at Shadow's survival and how lucky he got. He also states he has further plans for Shadow's Sonic, angering Shadow but Infinite refuses to speak more about his plan, only that they would meet again in a different form. After he vanishes, a portal to the Time Citadel opens and the two leave the dimension. As they arrive back, they give the Plate to Aeon to light up the Beacon. Aeon then reveals she has the Soul Plate Master Unit, but it can open be unlocked by her brother, Aethon, who is being held captive in the town of Avaritia that surrounds the Citadel. Despite annoyed that their first mission was merely a test, Shadow and Maria agree that saving Aethon would be their next mission.