"Hurry up, Maria! You've got to see it, it's wicked-scary!!!" the little boy anxiously tugged at the girl's arm as he dragged her down the metal halls of the Space Colony ARK. Maria sighed as she hesitantly walked with him. Part of her wanted to shrug him off and call him annoying, but she knew he didn't have anyone else to play with. Besides, she didn't want to hurt his feelings, no matter how irritating he got. As the boy headed towards a steel door Maria stopped in her tracks, "We aren't allowed in there and you know it! Grandpa said we should stay away from his lab." she warned. "But Maria!" the boy whined, "It was really creepy! Just look through the door and you'll see!" he began bouncing up and down like a kid waiting in line for the little boys' room. How silly he was! It took a great amount of effort for Maria to keep from giggling. She didn't want to disrespect her Grandfather, although she was rather curious about what could've frightened her little friend so much. Maybe just a peak won't hurt anything... she told herself as she approached the door. She glanced through the round window on the door and looked into the empty room. In the center of the room sat an open capsule, tubes still attached to it and steam hissing out of one of them. Maria placed her hands on her hips and turned to face the boy, "That's not funny. Whatever was in there is gone now." She brushed back her blond hair and started back down the hall. "B-but Maria! I swear! Something was in there! It was all black, and-- and it had these big, red, freaky eyes!" he pleaded as he followed her. What could she tell him? "Get lost, kid. Quit bugging me!" Right. Like she was going to do that. She knew he was probably telling the truth. Professor Gerald, her Grandfather, had made many strange projects before, but she wasn't allowed to mess with any of them. Her mind went back to the several times he had lectured her, "Maria! These are dangerous experiments that are not to be played with!" he would tell her. She respected that... for the most part. She couldn't help but find her Grandfather's experiments to be most intriguing.
"AAAH! M-MARIA!" Maria jumped at the boy's screams and turned to see what his problem was. Standing before her was the experiment that he had described. It was black with piercing ruby red eyes, though not near as frightenening as Maria had imagined. It looked like a hedgehog, she admitted to herself. It stared at her with it's red eyes... it's red, soulful eyes. "You're Maria?" it asked. It can speak! Maria thought as she smiled. "Yes, I'm Maria." she said in a kind tone. The hedgehog sighed, "...Professor Gerald told me that I was here to help you..." his voice wavered and he grew quiet. Maria simply smiled, "What's your name?" His eyes met hers, "I am... I am Project Shadow." he said. "Shadow," she thought out loud, "it suits you. It's nice to meet you, Shadow! Do you want to play a game?" Shadow looked perplexed. Surely he wasn't created to babysit this girl all day. But then again, what harm could it do? "What kind of game?" he asked as he folded his arms. "TAG! You're it!" Maria shouted as she tapped Shadow on his shoulder and then took off running down the hall. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl leave his sight. You've got to be kidding me... Does she really think she can outrun me? he thought as he chuckled.
It was a waste of time, really. Though, it wasn't like Shadow had anything better to do. He'd just gotten done testing out his abilities and was well aware of how fast he was compared to every other living thing. Like a streak of black lightning, he dashed down the hall and quickly caught up to Maria. Where was the fun in catching her so soon? Where was the challenge? He slowed his pace until he was running behind her, teasing her as she jumped and squealed when he almost caught her. She ran faster and turned around a corner. Shadow was on her heels and followed right behind her as they both rammed right into a tall man. "G-Grandfather!!" Maria stuttered as she stood up and brushed herself off. Professor Gerald brushed through his white mustache and cleared his throat. "Maria, you know that running through these halls is forbidden." he reminded her. "Why don't you and your playmate uh--" Professor Gerald glanced beyond his Granddaughter and saw the black hedgehog standing behind her, much to his surprise. He bent down close to Maria and whispered, "Project Shadow is not to be played with, Maria." She shrugged her shoulders and giggled lightly, "Oh, but Grandfather! He wanted to play with me! He looks like he needs to have some fun anyway." she said as she looked back at Shadow, who stood there with a suspicious look on his face. Gerald rubbed his chin and looked over Project Shadow for a moment then turned back to Maria, "I understand. Why don't the two of you read a book or something?" he suggested. His granddaughter smiled, "That's a good idea! Come on, Shadow! I know just the book we can read!" she said as she grabbed hold of Shadow's hand and ran down the halls.
The Professor watched as Maria and Project Shadow ran off to find the library. He smiled inwardly and sighed deeply, thinking about what his creation would do for the world and for his granddaughter. Maria really enjoyed having Shadow around. He seemed like the perfect friend she'd been wishing for. Whenever she felt alone he was there for her to talk to. They shared similar dreams of visiting the planet that the Space Colony orbited around. Being with Shadow even helped Maria to forget about the sickness she had that would someday destroy her. It was times like this that she thought about what one of her favorite authors once said... "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."
Disclaimer: Shadow and Maria and all other related characters and elements belong to SEGA, Sonic Team.