Shadow: Awakening II

Shadow: My True Home

And here they are... The heroes of this world, come to protect their planet. I keep my face passive, but a gaggle of emotions reside in my stomach as I watch the spaceship arrive. Confidence reigns over the others, but I can't help feeling a little annoyed and angered at the people on the ship. Don't they realize it's futile to try and save their planet? Even if the Doctor's plan is all they have information on, surely they must know about me. Why come here, to this place, when I appear to be serving his scheme? Any fool would realize by now that he, she, or it has no chance of winning!

Yet, they come anyways, flying up in plain view, hoping to be victorious. The creatures on this planet are so strange... Mobian or not, they all have an absurd sense of duty. Not that I can entirely fault them for it; I share the trait. I'll go to any means to achieve my goal, after all.

But then, I'm not suicidal purely for the sake of trying. I'll give my all to win, not to lose. So, why do they try? Why still try to defeat the Doctor, Rouge, and I when 'our' plan is inescapable? Reaching up, I scratch a spot behind my ear that seems to have a slight irritant.* Frowning, I come to the conclusion that this day will, in one way or another, be my last on the ARK. Funny how no one seems to have realized yet the trap Gerald built into the Eclipse Cannon... But it's hard to search for something you don't know is there.

Sighing, I know that I will miss this place. It was my home for the first weeks of my life, and all of my time with Maria and Gerald was spent here. Sometimes it's easy to forget how young I actually am... Counting my time before and after stasis, I still haven't scraped two months of consciousness. That's a hard fact to swallow, especially since I have a surplus of knowledge from the two memory additions I've undergone...

At any rate, I have a promise to keep, and I need to head off whoever just arrived here. Turning away from Maria's and my own favorite window, I wait for the door to scan my form and let me out of the quarantine I shared with her so long ago.

!Zoom! I turn around abruptly, just catching the sight of an escape-pod like object being ejected from the ARK. Squinting, I catch the slightest glimpse of someone inside, but I can't quite tell who.

!!!BOOM!!! My eyes widen as the capsule explodes, forming a massive cloud of smoke. My powers detect a large concentration of Chaos Energy nearby, and I wonder if it could be the last Emerald. Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream reverberates through the ship. I don't need my genetically enhanced hearing to tell what the girl is yelling.

'SONIC!!!'? Well, I think I can be pretty sure who was in that capsule now. A small smirk tugs at my lips as I realize he perfectly avoided having to deal with the world's destruction. I guess the blue hero wasn't strong enough to save himself, in the end. The door is standing open, and I walk through it while trying to quench the painful fires in my heart. Maria, I promised you revenge and I shall make good on my promise. I only wish there was some way to tell you that your wish will be fulfilled. Turning down the hall, I walk away for the last time from the room I consider my true home. 

Author's Note: *I bet you scratched your ear! XD Yes, this chapter is shorter than the others. I'm sorry! I couldn't think of a transition to use out of the last line, so I kept it. I am actively working on the next chapter, but as I am going back and watching Sonic X and Sonic Adventure 2 cutscenes to get in the right mood to write it, I don't have time to finish tonight. So, please accept this chapter and give me a day or two to get the next one out. It shouldn't take long to get a normal-sized chapter out, but there's so much action the climax will have to be split into at least two chapters, possibly three. Then I continue on into the events of Shadow the Hedgehog! (No booing please; I think the game is okay and stand by its story). And yes, Shadow is very young in my stories. I know it's weird, but I think he really is this young in the games. At any rate, it's cute to think he's really a baby! :3