Return of Gerlad's Legacy

Chapter 12: The Journal

The dome moved at unknown speed to Shade as he tried to sleep. He had too many things on his mind to do the latter, however. He tossed and he turned as he tried hurling the thoughts out his head. Umbra. Umbra was his uncle. He didn't want to accept it, would you? A demon from Hell who had tortured his father for thirteen years and was the son of Black Doom who was the evil dark overlord of the Black Arms? How could he accept that? His dad wasn't part Arms! His father was one of the most admirable men he had ever seen. There was no way that his dad or he, or his sister was even one-trillionth Black Arms.

Then there was Emily. This was a side of himself he was fearful of. How could he be good enough for her when there were guys like Hurc, Whirl, and Storm around? How would she even know he existed? She had probably mistaken him for Whirl or Storm when she sat by him.

Across the room, his father got up from his bed, without so much as touching his wife. He walked over to an empty computer terminal and began to type hiss thoughts on it.

November 9, 2020

I hope this record is preserved. I am Shadow the Hedgehog, husband to Sonia the Hedgehog and father to Shade and Crystal the Hedgehogs. I now know the truth. My tormentors face and name has been revealed to me. Umbra Eclipse has revealed himself behind the shroud of Cm. Robert Eclipse. I feel totally incompetent. How could I let the sign escape me? Sonia has told me to not blame myself, but I do. If I had seen what was coming I could have stopped the bombing. Now, as my family and friends escape Prower Command in a tunnel, I think of how many times I felt the sting of the whip whose scars I still wear, but not for decoration. They sting with reminder that I have failed. I have even helpedUmbra by releasing his array to which it will call the entire Black Arms fleet to our front door. Now with the destruction of the Prison Island, the array can be set up to seal our fate.

Even though I will fight to the bitter end, I place the thought that has been pondering me. I feel spread. I think I am getting older. I believe my curse of immortality is finally coming to a close. I may live to a ripe old age, I may just be eternally youthful, I may be both. Only time will tell if we survive this ordeal. I believe that the poison that the Black Arms inserted into my blood stream tampered with my genetic signature. Thirteen years of it may have been enough to tamper with my immortality. Or it may just be the fact that I'm worried about my children. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

As I travel this tunnel inside this massive dome I believe is of the namesake of the ARK, I can't not help but think but how my life has changed ever I awoke in Prison Island. Then I was only the Ultimate Life form, but I was alone. I had nothing other than my revenge. I had no one to love or love me in return except for Maria, whom I still mourn, but I do not cling to the past. Only a year later I had to fight Black Doom and his demonic empire. I began not only question myself but also where I stood in relation to my friends. Should I take the path filled with darkness but lead to light of answers, should I take the middle road, a full formed shade of grey, or should I take the course filled with light but may lead my to no answers than when I began? The puzzle swam before me, and the pressure of the war, my friends and the answer holder, Black Doom, did not make things any easier. Thankfully I chose light and I earned the answers I sought, but they made me wish I had never found them. They showed that Black Doom's blood had been used in my creation making him my biological father. And now I see that Umbra Eclipse is my biological brother. But, that does not mean I accept him as my true brother. I would rather have Faker as m true bother, or even Omega.

After that, I found care and compassion in the most unlikely place: Sonia the Hedgehog, Sonic's sister. She could understand me better than anyone. She didn't see me as some form of monster bent on destroying the universe. She even told me later that I was a lonely person trying to find his place in a cruel and unforgiving world. Pretty quickly, I'd say, we fell-head-over-hells for each other. I won't go into the mushy details for those of you without discretion, but I will say that we were frequently going out and we soon became inseparable. My love for her soon hit an epiphany and I proposed to her. She accepted with much 'enthusiasm', if you call screaming in joy and kissing me to death enthusiasm.