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His sacrifice.

By: Allanarcher777

Chapter 1: 50 years ago.

Aboard the space colony ARK, Gerald Robotnik was working tirelessly day in and day out, he felt he was on the verge of ultimate success. "If I just mix these two chemicals together with Shadow's blood, and then super heat it." He mixed various serums together and put the mixture in a machine. The vial inside started to glow a deep red. Gerald looked at it in awe and laughed. "I did. I actually did it! SHADOW!" Gerald called in excitement.

Shadow quickly rushed into the room with a worried expression on his face, fearing something bad happened. "Professor, what's the problem?"

"No problem! The opposite actually." The scientist grabbed the vial and started to pour it into a syringe. "After months of sleepless work, I finally did it. This serum will cure my granddaughter's illness that has plagued her for so long. She can finally leave this place and go to the planet's surface!"

Shadow was stunned. "Really? Professor, this better not be a joke."

"I wouldn't joke about this even if my life depended on it!" Gerald handed the syringe to Shadow and hung up his lab coat on a wall. "What are you waiting for? Go give the cure to Maria and tell her to find a coat, I want to take her there as soon as we can to celebrate!" Shadow was so overjoyed that he actually felt a large smile come across his face.

"Don't worry, I will!" Shadow hurried down the halls to find his friend. Eventually he came across her gazing out a window into the open stars. "Maria, it's a miracle!" The blonde haired girl turned around with delight to face the black hedgehog.

"Hello, Shadow. You seem a lot more perky than usual. What's the fuss?"

"The fuss is that The Professor made something extraordinary. Something that will change our lives forever!" The mystery of the surprise made Maria even more excited by the second.

"I can't take the suspense anymore. Just tell me what it is!"

"Heh, alright. He made a…" Before Shadow could finish, something happened that made both his and Maria's blood run cold.

BOOOOOOM! The colony shook from the force of a large impact. The emergency lights and sirens went off and an automated voice came from out of loud speakers. "ALERT! ALERT! THE SPACE COLONY ARK IS UNDER ATTACK! EVACUATE THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" The pair couldn't believe their ears. Maria started to panic over the shock.

"The ARK is under attack?! Shadow, what's going on?"

"I don't know. Let's just get out of here." The two proceeded to rush down the hall, but don't at the sight of armed soldiers.

"Hey, you two, Stop!" One of the men shouted. Maria, though afraid, thought on her feet. She grabbed Shadow's arm and pulled him in the opposite direction. With the soldiers hot on their tale, the pair eventually ran into a single room and Maria sealed the door behind them. Maria gasped for breath in exhaustion.

"Maria, are you okay?" Shadow asked as the soldiers tried to break the door down from the outside. When Maria calmed down she looked Shadow dead in the eye.

"Shadow, do you think those soldiers are after you?" Shadow was surprised at the question. He hesitated to think of a response.

"I don't really know. Perhaps it's because the professor is often keeping his projects secret. Alongside the occasional weapon." He hypothesized. Maria looked out the window as she was hitting buttons on a control panel.

"I suppose that is a good point. But you said that he wanted to make people happy with his inventions. Why would they want to attack someone who didn't try to hurt anyone?"

"I don't know." Shadow sighed. He took the time to look around and saw the large circle in the center of the room. He started thinking to himself.

(This room. Is this an escape pod port?) Shadow smirked. (Not bad Maria. We should be able to get away from all the soldiers without them being able to track us.) He felt a little proud of Maria for thinking of a quick solution. Then he started to notice a few grave details. (Wait, this is a Model 1C. These kinds of pods need at least one person operating from the outside to work.) Shadow questioned the effectiveness of the single pod.

Then it hit him. (No. She's really planning on sending me out alone. After all the Professor's work. I can't let her throw her life away like this.) Shadow felt his heart ache as he took a deep breath as he walked over to Maria. "Listen, Maria." His friend stopped and turn to face him. "I'm going to be honest with you. I'm scared of what might happen, what will happen."

"Don't worry, Shadow it's going to be okay." She reassured him. Shadow shed a small tear and quickly wiped it away.

"Maria, I feel like I should give you something before I forget."

"What is it?" Shadow slowly pulled out the needle with the antidote and put it in Maria's hands. Her blue eyes gazed at it in curiosity. "A needle? What is this?"

"It's what The Professor made, and the key to your future." Before Maria could respond, Shadow grabbed her arms and threw her to the side and in the center of the circle. He zipped over to the control panel and hit a button that sealed the pod. Maria was in disbelief at what her friend had done.

"Shadow, what's come over you!?" As she was trying to call Shadow out, the banging on the door got louder and heavier.

"Maria, we don't have that much time. That vial contains a cure for your illness, the one that you needed me to survive." Maria's mouth dropped open in shock as she looked at it. A key for freedom from the pain she's suffered. "I know what you wanted to do for me. But you deserve this more. Take that cure, and live life as you please." It was as Shadow finished that the soldiers broke the door down and armed their weapons.

"Freeze! Put your hands up." Shadow didn't listen as he continued to adjust the escape the pod's settings and prep it for launch. "We said stop!" He continued to adjust the machine, and a tone signaled it was ready to launch. "Open the pod with the girl and surrender. Or we WILL kill you!"

There was a heavy silence as Maria simply stared at Shadow. His hand hovering over the lever. Then, in an instant, Shadow pulled the lever for the pod to launch.

And Shadow was shot square in the chest. "SHADOW!" She shrieked.

"Good bye… Maria…" Shadow whispered as his eyes closed forever and the pod flew out of the Space Colony ARK. Maria still couldn't fully comprehend everything that happened.

"Shadow… Grandfather… My home…" She eyed the antidote in her hand and sighed. "For you Shadow, Grandfather, everyone." She took a deep breath and drove the needle into her arm. Pushing the plunger down and draining the fluid into her veins. She sat and looked at the ARK one last time and cried.

Then, suddenly, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her body. "Wha… Why do I feel… Strange?" Maria questioned as her vision got blurry. A groggy feeling hit her in sync with a heatwave that caused her body to sweat. Then, everything went black as she passed out.