Shadow of a Doubt

Memories

(Amy POV)

Sitting there, watching Maria, was very unnerving for Blaze and Amy. Though it had only been ten minutes since she called Silver, Maria's expression had already gone through half a dozen emotions. From happy to shocked, peaceful to blushing, and a couple mixtures. The only consolation was that she hadn't shown any signs of fear or sadness.

"Do you think she would leave us?" Amy asked, brushing a lock of pink from her eyes.

"I don't know... At least if she does, we can hope she visits often." Blaze replied.

"Yeah."

They heard the doorbell go off downstairs.

"I'll get it." the pink hedgehog muttered, running out of the room and down the stairs.

Opening the door, she sighed in relief. Standing on the steps were her three favourite heroes.

"Come in, quick." she said, motioning for them to follow.

Looks of confusion, then worry crossed the men's faces before they followed her inside. She lead them into the living room and looked over each of them.

"Amy, you look pale. What happened? Is something wrong?" Sonic worried, stepping closer to take her hand.

"Well, it was around fifteen, twenty minutes ago. Blaze and I were in the kitchen and Maria was supposedly still asleep. We heard a scream and thump noise, went upstairs, and found Maria curled up on the floor unconscious. We assume she's having a memory attack and we need one of you to move her off the floor and back into bed." Turning toward the stairs, she called back, "Shadow, you're the strongest, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, come on then."

And with that, the four hedgehogs went upstairs.

~!~

(Maria POV)

As she laid on her front on the cold floor, bleeding out, Maria could only hope that her best friend would live on in safety. Watching him bang and yell against the glass brought tears to her eyes more than any pain, for she knew that this would be the last time they would see each other. The pain in her heart for the black hedgehog was comparable to that caused by the bullet hole that n her chest.

Shadow, crying, was desperately trying to deny the fact that his best friend was dying right in front of him. That was when the escape pod ejected, sending him toward the blue and green planet below.

As Maria's vision began to blur and fade, she had just enough strength left to whisper the one thing she was always so scared to say.

"I... I love you... Shadow the hedgehog."

As dreams often do, Maria's memories whisked her off to a different setting.

Maria sat on her knees in the centre of a small, dark room, crying. The only door was an iron, inch thick plate without a handle or doorknob. There was not much light other than a large blue candle burning in front of her.

Tung, tung, tung

Hearing the metallic noises from behind the door, she quickly wiped away her tears and put on a stern face.

The door swung open to reveal a large man in thick circular glasses. His long bushy moustache sat above a twisted smirk.

"What do you want, Ivo? Can't you just leave me to my solitude?" Maria demanded, staring up at what should have been her caring cousin.

"All you have to do is help me ki- I mean defeat this group of freedom fighters, and help me take over. Then you may go free to do whatever you want." He replied smoothly, hands clasped behind his back.

"I would never harm anyone unprovoked! They would have to be a threat to people I care for... Even then, only to keep them from harming anyone... Now, leave me ALONE!"

As she yelled the last word, a surge of water from seemingly nowhere plowed over Ivo.

He had told her that her power was going to be immense, and that she could possible run at the speed of light, but Maria never knew she could be so in control of it.

Running at a fraction of her potential speed, the golden hedgehog fled her prison, reaching the exit and surrounding forrest.

Then her pursuer caught up to her. He was a robotic hedgehog, blue in colour with no visible mouth. Maria recognized him from previous visitations.

Grabbing her , his razor-like fingers sliced into her upper arm. Maria stifled a scream as his grip tightened, stoping her in her tracks.

The last thing she saw was the evergreens and his fist before everything went black.

~!~

(Sonic POV)

Reaching the top of the stairs, the hedgehogs silently slipped into the closest bedroom. Entering, they quickly noticed Blazes' face was slightly panicked.

"What's wrong?" Amy whispered, rushing over to her.

"I- I don't know! As soon as you answered the door she started crying and shaking her head. I don't know if it's a bad memory or she's just remembering a fear she has..." Blaze stuttered, still cradling Maria's head.

Maria's face was tear-stained and distressed looking. Anyone who had seen Shadow's memory attacks would know that she was clearly remembering something unpleasant.

Shadow silently walked towards the girls to move Maria back onto the bed. As he slipped his arms under her, Maria's face instantly relaxed. Picking her up, he carried her to the bed. After laying her down, he stepped back.

"Do you want us to wait for her to wake up or just leave and come back later?" Shadow asked.

It was apparent to his brothers that Shadow secretly wanted to stay, even if his face didn't show it.

"It wouldn't hurt if you guys stayed. Though there's no telling when she'll awaken..." Blaze answered, now standing next to Silver.

Everyone was now standing around where Maria lay, just watching for signs of her coming to; hoping her past was pleasant, that she had a loving family, and yet secretly wishing that she could stay with them.

They stood there silently for a while before Amy quietly said, "Maybe I'll go and-"

Before she could finish, they all saw Maria shift. She sat up, eyes still shut, and stretched her arms in front of her. Rubbing her eyes, she muttered something about stupid relatives.

Finally opening her eyes, she looked over each of them slowly, taking them all in. Amy, Sonic, Blaze, Silver, then Shadow.

Maria's eyes got a little wider as she realized who she was looking at.

At a speed even Sonic couldn't follow, she disappeared from the room.

"Everyone saw that, right? It wasn't just me?" Sonic asked, mouth agape.

"Well, one thing's for curtain," Shadow said, turning towards the door. "Maria is a lot more powerful than she has been letting on."