Shadow of a Doubt

Breakfast Gets Weird

Maria woke up with a small headache. She realized it was probably from the massive amount of drugs pumped through her so didn't pay it much mind.

Opening her eyes, Maria looked around. She was happy to see that she was back in her room at Amy's. The clock on the side table read 8:53am.

Wow, I've been asleep for nearly 24 hours...

Turning to look towards the door, Maria was startled to notice Shadow sitting in a chair next to her. He was leaned forward, head and arms resting on the edge of the bed. He was fast asleep.

Oh God... I forgot he knows now. This is going to suck.

Maria carefully got out of the bed and got ready, watching Shadow the whole time. Thankfully, he never stirred.

Quietly making her way downstairs, she found the rest of the group eating breakfast around the table. Sonic, Silver, Amy, Blaze, and Tails all turned in their seats upon hearing her enter.

Maria showed her teeth in that embarrassed, sort of smile, face with wide eyes, and went straight to the kitchen. The others were suspiciously quiet in the other room as she made herself breakfast.

I could just eat here and avoid them entirely. But that wouldn't solve anything. Maria sighed to herself and picked up her plate.

She took a seat between Silver and Tails and began eating.

She could feel all their eyes on her, but there was no way she was going to start the conversation.

"Maria? Where's Shadow?" Amy asked.

"He was asleep, so I left him in my room." Maria replied with a shrug.

"Wow. He practically never sleeps." Sonic said.

It was another tense moment of quiet until everyone had finished eating. They stacked the dirty dishes, but no one stood up to take them into the kitchen.

"Soooooo, are we gonna talk about yesterday?" Blaze asked.

Maria could tell that by 'we' she really meant 'you' as they made eye contact.

"I don't remember most of yesterday 'cause of the drugs, and... ya know... the kill-switch thing." Maria shrugged again.

"Then how about you tell us about yourself instead. Silver already filled us in on most of yesterday."

"Well, it seems I'm pretty infamous in this group. Rouge sure flipped when I told her. I don't know what else to tell you."

"Wait. Rouge knew, too? How many people were in on this little secret?" Amy asked.

"Just the three. Rouge found me right after I ran out of the house, so I confided in her for advice. Then Silver, here," Maria stuck her thumb at the white hedgehog beside her. "unceremoniously read my mind and memories to find out. And of course Tails was already running my DNA through every data base, so figured it out himself."

"Buuuuut you're a hedgehog now. How does that work DNA wise for figuring out you're past?" Sonic asked turning to Tails.

"She was a 79% match to her human self with the other 21% being hedgehog components." Tails sort of clarified.

"Fun fact! Those hedgehog components came from Amy." Maria added, making awkward finger guns.

"What!?" Amy exclaimed in a mix of excitement and confusion. "Okay, you have to explain how you were made. I'm so confused."

Shadow had silently joined the group, maintaining an unhappy look. He took a seat at the table, watching Maria intently.

She pretended not to notice, avoiding his gaze.

"So, a while back, Ivo found this ancient text that detailed how to make a Chaos Warrior, a being of chaos power. It's pretty difficult to complete and requires a chaos emerald shard of a certain size. Conveniently, there was only one left big enough in the entire known universe, so he can't make another... I guess unless he kills me." Maria added with a shrug then continued her ramble. "Anyway, all you have to do is put a crazy amount of meat and eggs in some type of incubator along with the chaos shard and a sample of DNA. Then you have to leave the whole thing in a cool dark room for twenty-five days, undisturbed by light or movement. Then if you get it right; tadaa! Me. Ivo used a bit of his hair anticipating genetically passed intelligence and used a couple of Amy's quills he found to make a hedgehog; the ideal species for controlling chaos energy. That's why I'm technically related to Amy genetically."

"Wait. Why would Eggman use Amy's DNA when he could use quills from more powerful hedgehogs?" Sonic asked, gesturing between himself and his brothers.

"Ha! There was no way Ivo was gonna have his ultimate weapon even remotely related to you lot. Personal distain aside, he wouldn't want his creation having a connection to you that might stop them from killing you."

"Okay, but you turned out to have a bigger connection than should be possible. How is it that you ended up in the body created?" Tails asked, having made a very small gesture towards Shadow.

"Devine intervention." Maria stated.

"You've got to be kidding me. Really?" Sonic raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Hey, it's the truth. I was chilling in the afterlife watching over you guys, then I was offered an opportunity, and I took it. I can't say much more about it. In exchange for remembering, I have to maintain your religious free will and keep my mouth shut." Maria shrugged.

"Wait. So you're saying that whichever god is real sent you back down to Earth, into this body, and to us?" Blaze reiterated.

"Pretty much. I call it ruining Ivo's plans while maintaining free will. Plus I got a second chance at life from the deal." Maria smiled.

"Okay, can we go back a second? Are you saying that this process used up a shard of chaos emerald?" Tails asked.

"No, it wasn't used up. A body was created around it. I have a shard of a... blue emerald, I believe, inside me. Right around here." Maria rubbed a spot on the left side of her chest, between her shoulder and breast. "Coincidentally, it lines up with the cool birthmarks I got there." She pulled her collar over to show a dark spot about the size of a quarter. "I have a bigger one on my shoulder blade, right across from it."

"So that's why you gave off so much chaos energy in the tests!" Tails said.

"Maria, have you ever heard about that theory about birthmarks...?" Amy asked hesitantly.

"Ha! Yeah, about them being signs of how you died in your past life? I know! I'm practically living proof it might be true. This is exactly where I was shot." Maria smiled.

At least she thought it was cool. The others seem more unnerved.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. None of them knew how to address the touchy subject of her death. At least not in the presence of Shadow.

"Aw, come on." Maria said rolling her eyes. "I died around 60 years ago. I'm over it. And Silver can attest; I joke about it."

No one spoke.

"God... This is why I didn't want to tell you guys." She said softer.

Shadow stood up slowly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Maria, can I talk to you in the other room for a second?" He more stated than asked, walking into the living room.