Watchdogs of the ARK

Sacrifice from the Future

A month later, Infinite marches along the area of the highway where he was attacked by Black Doom's shape shifting minion. Now armored with the protective suit created and gifted to him by his master, he is quite the intimidating sight, baring both his mask and his sword. As he strides up and down the boarder of the ARK, he feels a kinesthetic presence.

WARP. Someone etherial and critically injured appears on the asphalt down the road. Instantly ready to fight, Infinite glides ahead, prepared to defend his territory.

"Who are you? What are you doing on the ARK?" he demands when he lands next to the fetal-curled trespasser, sword raised. The warrior lies in immense pain on the black ground. There's no fight to be had. Infinite lowers his weapon, kneels and suddenly recognizes this person. It's Silver the Hedgehog... but another version of him. One from this universe. He's ominously bloodied up, covered in both red and green bodily fluids. Infinite can tell some of the blood belongs to the hedgehog, and some of it belongs to the Black Arms.

"Ugh... Black Doom came to Earth, destroyed the ARK... then destroyed my world," Silver coughs.

"That's not possible. You're on the ARK right now. What is this nonsense?"

"No, I'm... from the future. You need... you need to rotate the ARK. Face the cannon toward the coordinates saved... in my communicator."

Silver tries to lift his wrist to show Infinite the communicator installed in his bracer, but can only budge his arm slightly. Infinite turns the curled hedgehog onto his back and lifts his wrist, examining it suspiciously. A small chip pops out, peeking from the bracer for Infinite to take. He does so then takes notice to the gory hole blown on the right side of the hedgehog's torso.

Suddenly Shadow Chaos Controls on the other side of Silver's battered body.

"Hmph, why are you here, dying warrior?" he asks, folding his arms at such a disturbing sight. In spite of the battering, the white hedgehog is quite majestic and elegant. Seeing such a lovely creature marred so severely will not be something Shadow forgets.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, protector of the ARK, use me to rotate the space colony," Silver insists. "Hurry, take me to your artificial intelligence hub. Let... let the ARK extract my powers while I'm still alive."

Shadow looks down at Infinite, waiting for an explanation.

"I think we can trust him, Master," Infinite assures as he stands.

Shadow nods.

"Very well then. Infinite, meet me in the ARK's AI corridors. And you... come along, soldier."

Shadow scoops dying Silver into his arms and Chaos Controls away. Infinite has to travel to the referred sector in real time but arrives promptly to watch Shadow use a reactor to suck the remaining life out of Silver. It's a heartbreaking sight, in spite of Infinite remembering thoroughly disliking the Silver from his own world.

This Silver reminds Infinite of his jackals, when he found them bloodied up in the Mystic Jungle. Clearly this Silver fought with valor but there's no point in getting attached now. Sadly, Infinite can't help but fixate on how the reactor ironically resembles a cylinder, glass coffin. How ominously appropriate.

As the machine extracts Silver's psychokinesis, the entire room fills with a beautiful cyan light. Unhinged objects begin to float, suggesting that gravity has left the atmosphere. Really, it's the energy of Silver's telepathic talents radiating through out the ARK, including within the AI system. The process happens rather quickly, with the magic lasting only a few seconds. When the beauty subsides, Silver lies completely still, dead inside the reactor. For a moment, Shadow and Infinite are somberly silent... until AI Rouge appears in holographic form beside Shadow, saluting the deceased hedgehog.

"Well that was a knife to my artificial heart," she proclaims. "What a shame, boys."

Rouge's realistic presence throws the warriors off a little, AI Rouge has never appeared this way before. Shadow takes a second to refocus before agreeing with her.

"A damn waste," he scoffs with devastation.

"He left this for us, coordinates for rotating the ARK," Infinite says, handing Shadow the chip from Silver's bracer.

"I was wondering what you fellas wanted me to do with all this amazing new power," smiles AI Rouge. "Rotate the ARK, you say? Well, I can most certainly do that, now that I'm filled with a plethora of such sensational energy."

Shadow pauses to take another look at Silver. More rage towards Black Doom boils in his veins. He loses himself in thoughts of various, creative ways he can brutally annihilate Black Doom with his bare hands.

"Well, what are you waiting for, hun?" AI Rouge asks, breaking him from his trance of carnage.

"Remind me again how many years it's been since I was created," Shadow requests, his tone deep and dark.

"Oh that's an easy one," AI Rouge shrugs. "It's been 250 years since you were created. Your departed friend here, he appears to have come from 144 hours in the future. Six days, love."

Shadow hands Infinite back the chip, steps aside and clinches his fists.

"What is it?" Infinite asks.

Shadow shuts his eyes tightly.

"Give me an analysis of his DNA," he insists.

"I'll run a scan, sugar," AI Rouge replies and flies to the reactor. She taps the glass with her finger, instigating a blue laser to appear and carefully trace over Silver's body. When the scan is complete, she flies back over to Shadow and tells him...

"Analysis generated. Results show a positive DNA match to your own, Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow's heart sinks. The room becomes freakishly quiet. Then...

SLAM. He unexpectedly turns with a cry of fury and punches a dent into the otherwise, impenetrable steal wall.

"GRAH! Damn Black Arms!"

He heaves, asking AI Rouge to verify.

"He was mine?"

"Your descendent, yes," AI Rouge informs. "His tracing stems back to that, of you and a girl by the name of Amy Rose."

Trying to slow his heavy breathing, Shadow musters the words...

"I felt that, I felt that death, like it was me. Infinite, give her the coordinates."

Infinite nods and feeds into the computer, the chip he removed from Silver's bracer.

"Oh I see," AI Rouge begins, her warmhearted, sultry voice comforting Shadow a bit. "Black Doom will be arriving from a route that climaxes at these coordinates. If I turn the ARK to face the Eclipse Cannon in this direction, I can use these new psychokinetic powers to blow his army out of the galaxy."

She flies back to the reactor and leans into the glass, going right through it, like a ghost. With much reverence, she gives Silver's forehead a virtual peck then sweetly whispers into his ear.

"Clever thinking, pretty diamond. Sorry you had to die for us to know that. Way to save a whole lot of lives, little hero."

"Didn't even know his name," Shadow grunts, keeping his eyes shut for fear of seeing nothing but red.

"Silver," Infinite tells him. "I know because there was a Silver in the world I left behind. His name was Silver."

The ARK begins to shift, the stagnant view Shadow's grown so used to, begins to transition and it only enhances his sadness. He opens his eyes, his tears drip onto the metallic floor.

"Silver?" he replies, his voice now small and hurting.

"Yes, Silver the Hedgehog," Infinite restates. Then he gently approaches Shadow and places his grieving friend's hand into his white locks. Wearing a brokenhearted frown upon his face, Shadow pets the jackals soft, long hair.