Shadow of a Doubt

The Truth

"Silver, it's been 25 minutes now. Just tell us." Blaze said.

"Sorry if I'm not too keen on spilling the beans on Maria without her here." Silver stopped pacing and rubbed his face.

"Considering Eggman is somehow involved, I think it's pretty important that we know, Silv." Sonic added.

"Yeah, yeah." Silver sighed. "I think you guys should sit down for this."

"Really?" Shadow looked incredulously at him.

"Trust me. You'll understand in a minute."

They sat down on the various lawn chairs and lounge chairs, except for Silver, who did a little more pacing.

"Alright, Silver, who is she?" Amy asked.

"Okay." Silver stopped, taking a deep breath. "She can fill in the details later, but..."

The others waited with bated breath as he paused, biting his lip.

"Physically, she was created by Dr Robotnik using an ancient process he found instructions for on an artifact. Mentally, however..."

"Come on, man; spit it out!" Sonic said, impatient.

"Fine! She's Maria Robotnik, okay!?"

Everyone's face went slack. Sure, the idea had crossed all their minds, but it seemed too crazy to be true.

"Like, Shadow's Maria Robotnik? You sure Eggman didn't just name her after his cousin?" Sonic asked.

"No... It's her. I've been through her head. Their's no way she could be anyone else."

Amy and Blaze shared a look then turned to Shadow.

"How are you doing there, Shadow?" Amy asked.

"I'm... fine." Shadow had gone very still, staring off into space.

"I know she's all powerful and everything, but shouldn't we try and go get Maria back? Eggman did make her collapse or something." Sonic pointed out.

"Yeah. Maria is the ultimate weapon in the wrong hands. I'm not surprised that he installed a sort of off switch probably using hypnotism. Did anyone catch what he said?" Blaze asked.

"Kra. It's ARK backwards." Silver answered blankly, taking out his phone and pulling up a number.

"What are you doing, Silver?" Amy asked.

"Calling Tails. We'll need to use the surveillance bugs to figure out which base he's taking her to. I didn't recognize where he was keeping her in her memories."

"Oh."

They all got quiet. Silver called Tails, asking him to search through the bugs' cameras to find Maria. It took him an agonizing couple minutes in which everyone silently listened to the phone. Finally, Tails' voice came over the speaker.

"Okay! Found her! You know that weird summer property he inherited? Apparently he has a whole hidden lab in there. I had to reactivate the old prototype bugs I sent out there for testing." Tails said eventually.

"Great. Thanks, Tails." Sonic answered.

"Wait! So you guys know who she is now?"

"Yeah, they know. Maria made me tell them." Silver said.

"I don't think Shadow should go to retrieve her."

The hedgehogs and Blaze exchanged looks. Yes, Shadow had gotten a little despondent, but he was still himself.

"Why's that, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"It's just... I think only Sonic and Silver should go." He paused. "You'll see why. Make sure you grab the mind control chip in the lab. I want to use it to make something to defeat any attempts at controlling Maria that he'll make in the future."

"Got it. Thanks, buddy. See ya." Sonic finished.

"Good luck, guys." Tails said before Silver hung up.

The phone was barely put away when Shadow said, "I'm going."

"You heard Tails. He said you shouldn't." Amy protested.

"I don't care." Then, almost so they couldn't hear, he quietly said, "She's my best friend."

Silver and Sonic shared a look, then Silver said, "You have to promise me you won't confront Eggman. We go in, we get Maria and the chip, we get out."

"Maria is my number one priority. You guys get the chip, I'll find her."

"Shadow. Maybe Tails doesn't want you to see Maria in whatever state she's in. She is super powerful. For her not to have come back yet..." Blazed tried.

"I don't care. I'm going."

They gave up trying to deter him. Shadow was stubborn at the best of times, so there was no way he would budge on something so important to him.

The three brothers took off for the hidden summer property.

~!~

Once there, they snuck past the security and entered the normal looking house. In the back, there was a plated door that looked very out of place compared to the regular cottage feel. Going through it, they found a large staircase going down into a more Eggman looking hallway.

This entire time, they had remained silent. There was nothing to discuss.

Going down the hall, they looked over each door in hopes of easily finding their targets.

"Tails texted that the chip is in the farthest door. I'm gonna go grab it and trash the lab. He also says Maria is in the one marked Dangerous." Sonic said after checking his phone.

"Got it. Meet you back at the house." Silver said, side-eying Shadow.

Sonic sped away as Shadow continued forward, Silver following closely behind. After a couple more doors, they found the one Tails was talking about.

DANGEROUS: Docile but Extremely Powerful Subject. DO NOT ANTAGONIZE!

They looked at each other. That sounded about right.

Shadow put his had on the door's automatic open button, surprised to find it unlocked.

The door opened.

Their hearts dropped at the sight before them.