Prologue: The Memories of Maria
"Shadow, I'm scared… what are these men here for?" The young blond-haired girl holding the hand of a black and red anthrop hedgehog was feeling tears coming to her eyes.
"I don't know, Maria, but we have to get out of here," Shadow replied, running at a speed Maria could keep up with. Keep running, Shadow. Don't stop. You have to get Maria out of here.
Shadow and Maria Robotnik were being chased by G.U.N. , a force that wanted to shut down Professor Gerald's "Project Shadow", and they had enforced a raid, and were destroying everyone and everything.
"We can't let them get away! Stop them!" One of the G.U.N. troops shouted.
"They have him! Come on! Go! Go! Go!" Went another.
"Shadow, what are they talking about?" Maria asked.
"I don't know, but we have to escape, or we'll never make it," Shadow answered, he ran faster, and faster. He had to get away. He couldn't let G.U.N. hurt anyone else anymore.
As he kept running, he saw what he was after. At last, there it was, the door to an escape pod to Earth. "Maria! There it is!" He sped up, and dashed in the room, and at last stopped, and he let out a few gasps for breath, and so did Maria.
"Maria… There's no time for rest. We have to get out of here."
"You're right, I'll get the escape pod ready."
Shadow nodded, and he ran towards the center of the room, and waited patiently.
I have to make sure nothing happens to her… Shadow thought to himself. I know why they're here… They're here for… me. If she dies because of me, I'll never forgive myself… It'll be my entire fault… "Maria, are you almost done? We have to…"
Suddenly, that's when it happened, the beginning of what Shadow would never forget, as the escape pod came from above, and closed in on Shadow, as he was trapped inside, with Maria still outside.
"Maria! Maria! What happened!? You need to open the escape pod back up, or you'll never escape!" Shadow cried.
"Shadow… I'm not coming with you."
"What!?" Maria, but… why?"
"You have to get out of here Shadow. I want you to be safe, and there's no time. We can't escape together. Only one of us can, and it has to be you."
"No! Maria, I won't let you do this! Maria!" Shadow began to bang on the glass of the escape pod, but nothing worked; he couldn't escape.
CRASH! G.U.N. troops broke the door and they ran inside the room, and Shadow's heart was pounding harder and harder.
"Maria, please, don't do this! I don't care if I were to die, just as long as you live!"
"Shadow… please, go on. Promise me Shadow; Promise me… for all the people on that planet… give them all a chance to be happy."
"Maria…" Shadow panicked. What could he do? There was no way he could help Maria. The Ultimate Life-form… was helpless.
"Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog…" Maria pulled down the switch to release the escape pod, but just at the same time, one of the G.U.N. soldiers fired one of their guns, and the bullet went straight into Maria, and Shadow witnessed the whole painful scene, just before the escape pod headed down for Earth.
"MARIA!!"
"MARIA!!" Shadow shouted, as he rose up from the tree he was laying against. He was back reality, fifty years later after the memory he had just seen, and it was the most painful one in his mind, and it was his last memory of Maria Robotnik, his best friend before she was killed and he was sent down to Earth.
He stood up, and walked towards the nearby lake close to the tree he had rested under, and stared at his reflection. He saw a black hedgehog with red markings on the spikes on his head, and pointed black ears. The hedgehog had dark red eyes full of nothing but pain as well, and had a white tuft of fur on his chest, and had white hands with a ring around each wrist. He had more red markings on his arms and legs, too, and spikes on his back, and he had rings around his ankles, similar to the ones on his wrists, and shoes with jets on the bottom of them.
"Is this… really me? The one who is the cause of Maria's death?" Shadow questioned himself. He looked at his hands, and stared at them, and then looked away, shutting his eyes. "Dammit… She's dead because of you, Shadow! It's all your fault she isn't living to this day! She could be living right now, but she isn't, and it's all because of you!"
Shadow stared into the lake again, and just stayed quiet as he thought. "I know I was going to start a new life, and throw my past away… But Maria… I still think about her… About how she's dead… and that I couldn't save her… and if I could ever change my past…"
The subject of changing his past came to his mind. "Even though I said I would throw my past away, I wish I could change it... so that Maria was still alive. I wish… I wasn't who I was. Maria would still be alive…"
Shadow's fist clinched, and he only stared at his reflection in the lake once again, as he thought quietly.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps were slowly forming, and they were growing louder and louder.
The sounds soon came to Shadow's ears, but he didn't react, until they were very close. Now he knew something was wrong, and he wanted to see what was going on, and he turned around. In front of him was what appeared to be a human in black cloak, almost like phantom, but Shadow could see he did have legs, and it was no ghost. "Who are you?"
"No one you would know," The human said in a dark voice.
"Who are you? You sound… familiar. Tell me who you are!" Shadow demanded.
"I'm afraid we've never met before. I think your mind is being tricked just as it has in your nightmares."
"Nightmares? Wait, how did you know…"
"I overheard you talking to yourself. You've had nightmares about someone named Maria, have you not?"
Shadow didn't answer and only stared. He couldn't believe the man had known about Maria, but then again he did scream her name once he awoke.
"You desire her back, don't you? You wish to be with her, and apologize for the sin you have created?"
"I… yes."
"Then perhaps I can fix that, Shadow. I can help you fix your fatal mistake."
"What? But… how?"
"You have the ability to use Chaos Control, do you not?"
Shadow simply nodded. He would not give any details on him to some human he had no idea of. He may have not wanted revenge on humans anymore, but he didn't completely trust them either.
"Well, believe it or not, I as well can use the Chaos abilities, but in much more unique ways than you."
"What? But how can a human such as you—"
"I can send you back fifty years from now, Shadow. I can help you fix your pitiful mistake."
Shadow couldn't believe what was going into his ears. He could go back and fix his past? He could perhaps save Maria from being killed thanks to him?
"Meet me at outskirts of the city before us, Station Square, in four days from now, and make sure you have made your true decision of whether you would like to go back or not."
Shadow looked out towards Station Square, and back at the cloaked man. "But why so long from now? And what true decision? I already know—"
"Think about it Shadow, think about it… and meet me at the outskirts, just before dawn."
Shadow knew he couldn't change the human's mind, so he saw no need to. "But… you want nothing in return? Humans are full of greed, and why would you just give me such a chance as this?"
"Why, the only satisfying thing is to help those in need, Shadow. Not all humans are full of greed. Did you not learn that from Maria?"
Shadow stayed quiet, but let out his last words to the man. "All right then, I'll be there for with my final decision. If this is a bluff, you'll feel the true power of the Ultimate Life-form!"
The man let out a small laugh. "Ha ha ha ha ha. I wouldn't dare challenging you, so do know, this is no bluff, but think thoroughly through this before you make your true decision, because you just might regret it."
The cloaked man turned and left to go on his way, and Shadow watched until the man disappeared in darkness.
"So I have four days to think of if I truly want this… of course I do. Why wouldn't I? I could finally have a better life, with no chaos, and no pain."
Shadow turned back, and looked upward towards the glistening moon. From Earth, the view just wasn't the same. The moon seemed closer at the space colony ARK than on Earth, and just wasn't the same. It was nothing when he and Maria would view it from the colony.
"Wait for me Maria… I promise I'll be back… I promise you…"
Shadow laid down on the gentle emerald grass, and stared at the moon for a long while, only thinking of Maria, until he soon at last drifted off into sleep.
It was the first of the last four days Shadow could live in his world of chaos. In a few days, it would all be over, and he could be with Maria once again.
When he awakened, his first thoughts were Maria. Now, Maria was the only one on his mind. He would live carefree soon. It was what he truly desired out of all things in his life. He had gone through so much chaos.
He remembered what first happened after the disaster with Maria, and when he was sealed away. Doctor Eggman had freed him, and with the Chaos Emerald in his position, Shadow took it, and told him to bring more, at least Eggman said that.
He remembered encountering Sonic for the first time. Sonic seemed to have quite a hate for him then, and they had such a fierce rivalry, from what he was told at least. But now, it was a friendly rivalry. They even, in a way, were friends, maybe not that close, but somewhat.
He remembered being told of the great battle they had together to save the world from destruction against the prototype of the Ultimate Life-form, The FinalHazard. He wished, in a way, he could remember those memories, but it was behind him now, so what could he do?
He remembered first seeing Rogue the Bat, well, not the first, but the first since he was locked away again. He remembered protecting her from Omega, at least that's what he assumed, that Omega was attacking Rogue, but she had stopped the two from fighting. Rogue had to be one of Shadow's closest friends, even if sometimes she was slightly annoying. But she was a girl, and girls seemed to act that way in the time he was in now.
Omega… They were rivals in a way, talking about who was stronger, and Shadow believed that there was no way he could be less powerful than a machine, but he would admit, Omega was strong, for a robot at least.
But all of this thinking of the people he thought of his allies and friends, he thought of his enemies, too.
Black Doom… Black Doom was his most memorable enemy. He disliked him so. But at least he had gotten rid of him for good. His past was finally thrown away when Black Doom was destroyed. Whether he was created from Black Doom's blood or not, he didn't care. All that matted was that he no longer existed, and Shadow could live freely.
He remembered when Silver the Hedgehog, now an ally in the future, was once an enemy, when he was working for Mephiles, and not realizing the disaster he was causing, thinking that Sonic was the Iblis Trigger, and attacking him, but thankfully, Shadow was around and has come to protect him so he could save Elise.
Mephiles, that fool, he tricked Silver into thinking that Sonic was the Iblis Trigger, and he succeeded in truly releasing Iblis from Elise, and fusing together with Iblis to become Solaris. That was Shadow's most memorable battle besides with Devil Doom, being with Silver and Sonic once he had been revived from the dead.
Soon, he got out of trance from his thoughts. He had not realized much time had passed while thinking about his past times. But soon, all that, as well, would be thrown away, when he would go to live fifty years in the past.
"Things will be much better there. I'm sure this time would be improved as well. I'm sure everyone will have much better lives as well once I…"
"Once you what, Shadow?"
"Hm?" Shadow turned around from where he was standing, and in front of him was one of the very allies he was thinking of would have a better life once he was gone, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. "What are you doing here, Sonic?"
"Well, I was gonna ask if you wanted to race or something, but something else is up here, so tell me that first."
"It's nothing. It's my business, not yours."
Sonic eyed him. "Shadow, come on, what's on your mind? What were you talking?"
"It was nothing. Don't let it bother you."
"Shadow, please. Can't ya just tell me?"
"Sonic, drop the subject, it's nothing you need to know."
Sonic was silenced. Although he did want to know, he could see he was really pestering Shadow. Eventually, Sonic knew he'd get his answer, but not now. "So, do you wanna race or what?"
"Heh, thanks, but no thanks."
Sonic looked at him confusedly. "Shadow, what's wrong with you today? Someone sure work up on the wrong side of the bed."
"Quiet. I told you I wasn't in the mood. If I don't want to race with you, I don't want to race, so go off to your business, and I'll go off to mine."
Sonic stared at him, but then, a mischievous grin came up on his face. "Oh, I see now, you're just upset because I've beaten you the last three times."
Shadow glared at Sonic with his burning red eyes. "What was that?"
"You know it's true. If you've been counting, I've beaten the last three races we've had."
Shadow snarled. He knew this was true, but it wasn't really why he didn't want to race.
"Gee, I thought you were created to be the "Ultimate Life-form", not the Ultimate Chicken. Gee, they must have really messed up on your psychical look."
Shadow's fist clinched. "All right, I've heard enough. If it's a race you want, that's just what you'll get. And you're not going to get away this time."
Sonic grinned. "Now that's the Shadow I know. Okay, through the mountains and a swift turn back, how about that?"
"Fine then, I'm not losing this time," Shadow let out a small, but somewhat confident looking grin.
"All right, but I'm not going easy on you," Sonic got in even positions with Shadow. "Okay, ready?"
Shadow nodded.
"1... 2… 3…"
"GO!" Sonic and Shadow's voice clashed together instead of Sonic alone counting, as the two hedgehogs ran ahead at high speeds, at quite even matches.
"So, you're going a bit faster than usual, are ya? I guess you really are determined," Sonic assumed.
"I think you're just going slower, because my speeds haven't changed at all!" Shadow proclaimed, and ran ahead.
Sonic let out a simple grin. "I can see you have the racing spirit back in you then!" He ran after him.
Sonic and Shadow raced neck to neck, they were quite equal today, seeming to go at the exact same speed.
They dashed through Station Square, startling the people, and stopping a few cars and nearly causing wrecks all over, and dogs barked in rage.
"You really aren't that bad today, Shadow. I guess you did sleep well, at least for a race."
"Maybe that's the case, maybe it isn't, but I'm not letting you win this time!"
As Sonic and Shadow ran at the same pace, they were out of the city, and running through plains and forests, dodging all of the obstacles in their way: trees, bushes, logs, rivers, lakes, and other living things that were living peacefully in the forests.
"You're not beating me, Shadow. I won't let ya. I'll make it the fourth time you lose, and then next time, your fifth."
"Really now? I don't think so, Sonic, I'll be winning this time."
As the two ran faster and faster, they began approaching the mountains, high and wide, and filled with pride, they were steep, and hard to run across, at least for people such as humans.
"Well, looks like we've made it to my favorite part of the race, well, my second favorite, because my real favorite is when I win!"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. That's when I win, Sonic."
"We'll see if you're right or not, Shadow."
Sonic and Shadow ran up and down the mountains at an even greater speed than they already were, going faster, and faster, and even faster…
"Okay, the turn's coming up. Wonder if you can get this right, Shadow."
"Of course I can. I'll show you I won't be the one tripping and falling."
"Show me what you're made of then!"
"All right then, you asked for it now!"
Just as Sonic and Shadow reached the tip of a mountain, they made an immediate, direct turn from whence they came, and were going up the mountains, and down them again, gaining more and more speed.
"I'm not going to be defeated again Sonic, I'll let you know that! I'll win this race!" Shadow began to gain higher and higher and higher speeds, soon, he was going faster than the speed of sound, and was creating a sonic boom!
"Oh, now you're playing rough, huh? Okay, bring it on!" Sonic soon began running as quick as he could, and soon, he as well, was creating a sonic boom just like Shadow!
The two hedgehogs were reaching unbelievable speeds, and were avoiding all of the obstacles in the forest they had just gone through, but they were disrupting peace wherever they went.
They soon went back through Station Square again, disturbing more peace.
The two combined sonic booms created by Sonic and Shadow was making a noise as loud as hundreds of explosions happening at once.
It was almost by luck that no one in the city was harmed, as Sonic and Shadow started to go through the final pace of the race.
"Well, Shadow, you've put up a really good race today! This hasn't been easy!"
"You have too. It hasn't been easy at all. But I'm sorry to say, victory is mine!" Shadow dashed forward at blinding speed, zooming past Sonic, and finally was at the starting point of where the race had begun, only to be ahead of Sonic by just a split second.
"Phew… well, you sure put up a good one! You got me there, but just barely, you know!"
"Heh… well, you're not an easy one to beat. You really aren't just a hedgehog."
"'course I'm not! But you aren't just the Ultimate Life-form, either."
"Well, although I don't normally say things like this, thank you, for the… fun we had during that race."
Sonic looked at Shadow oddly for just a second, but then grinned. "Well, it won't be our last race, that's for sure! I'll beat you next time!"
Shadow then became silent, and looked down mournfully. "Sonic… I'm afraid there won't be a next time."
"Huh? Shadow, what are you talking about? Of course there'll be a next time! I'm not leaving anytime soon!"
"Yes, but… I am."
"What? But where do you have to go? When? Why?"
Shadow looked at Sonic, and he seemed to be somewhat filled with sorrow, but also seriousness at the same time. "In three days, Sonic, I'm going back fifty years from now. I'm… going to see Maria again."
"Wait, you're still thinking about her? But you said…"
"I know, I was going to throw my past behind me, and not think about it again, but… Maria… she's been in my thoughts, and I keep having nightmares of her death…" Shadow was speaking much quieter than usual. "It's all my fault it happened… And it's all my fault she's dead, and I want it to end… I want to change my past, and that's what I'm going to do."
"But Shadow… the past is the past. You know, things just might happen again. You can't just get a second chance at things, Shadow. You…"
"But I have to just try! I'm tired of living my life like this! I just want to make up for my mistake! You don't know what it's like Sonic, to have a mistake like this, haunting you every day of your life!"
Sonic didn't know what to say. He had never seen this side of Shadow, so full of sorrow and regret. The Shadow he knew was always serious and would never just outburst in such a way as he did just now.
"… I'm sorry Sonic, but I have to do this. I… I can't stand this damn life of mine anymore, full of regret and pain. I can't stand it."
"But what about everything else, Shadow? Some things would never happen if that stuff never happened. ARK might have destroyed Earth by now, Metal Madness could've destroyed the world by now without everyone's help, including yours, Black Doom and the Black Arms could've taken over Earth by now, and the Black Comet could still exist right now, and maybe I wouldn't be alive anymore, if you hadn't teamed up with everyone else to get the seven Chaos Emeralds to bring me back, and…"
"I don't care."
"What?"
"I don't care. I just want to see Maria, and I want to bring her back alive… I want her to just live for a longer time then she would without being shot."
Sonic's brows furrowed. "Shadow, what about Maria's promise? To give the people on Earth a chance to be happy? If those events hadn't happened, you could never fulfill your promise to her. The world… it'd be g—"
"Sonic, I know what I'm doing! I don't need your opinion! It's my decision!"
"Shadow, you've gone too far now! This isn't like you, and just how could you get back in time anyways? This is some sort of lie I bet!"
"Chaos Control."
"What?"
"Don't you remember? Chaos Control can warp the one who uses it through time and space, and I met someone who can use Chaos Control in such a way, it could send me back all the way back into 50 years of time, at the space colony ARK."
"But who is it? Who's sending you back in time?"
Shadow looked sideways at the ground. "I don't know, but I'm taking a chance for it. I want to change my past. I want out of this life I live in."
"Shadow, you're insane. What you're doing might—"
"It's my decision, Sonic, and I may have three days now to decide it, I've already made the decision, and I'm going. If you disagree, that's fine with me, but you can't change my mind."
Sonic just turned around and began to walk away. "So this is who you've really become, huh? A selfish hedgehog who'll only think of himself?"
"I'm doing this for Maria as well! This is not entirely just for me!"
"Maria saved you because she knew she wouldn't live for much longer anyways. She wanted you to fulfill her promise to make the people of Earth happy because you were the only one who could do it! She could never do it in her condition! She trusted in you to do it, but it looks like now, you're just going to break that promise."
Shadow clinched his fists. "I've had enough of this argument with you, Sonic. You may try to change my mind, but you'll never succeed! Now, be gone! Chaos… Spear!"
Suddenly, over Sonic, multiple yellow spears of light appeared, and lunged at him.
As quick as he could, Sonic ran out of the area, avoiding the spears, and got away from Shadow as quick as he could. Shadow… why?
Shadow clinched his fists, and turned up to the sky. Evening was already getting close. He had woken up somewhat late at noon, and his argument with Sonic… it had lasted longer than he assumed. "He'll never understand the pain and regret I've been through…" Shadow laid down to rest, but laying down, his mind focused on Maria, and he thought of her. He could still remember her voice… her soft, gentle voice filled with care. He wanted to hear it again, and he wanted to hear it once again.
Shadow looked into the sky until sunset came, he watched that, and wished dearly that Maria could be there with him to watch it. She probably never did see how that was like on Earth.
"I'll be gone in three days… After that, I'll never be seen here again, and many things will change… I wonder if… Sonic's right…"
Shadow shook his head for a moment. What was he thinking? Why was he actually believing Sonic? Shadow had made his decision, and he already knew it was right, what was the point of ever doubting?
"Everyone else won't ever see me again though… Sonic, his friends, the doctor, Rogue, Omega…"
When Shadow mentioned Rogue and Omega to himself, he knew he would have to say good bye to them somehow, before he'd leave, he wanted to say good bye to them.
"… We'll meet just before I go at dawn. I'll leave them a note," Shadow started running out of the area and to Rogue and Omega's hangout, so he could leave a note for them to meet on the last and final day of his life without Maria…
It was around 3 AM in the morning when Rogue and Omega arrived at the rooftop of the tower Shadow had listed on the note he had left behind. Rogue was somewhat confused of why Shadow had ordered up a meeting so late in the night, and why at a random place such as this? Usually Shadow would immediately inform them of something, and not days later at a completely random place in Station Square.
"Where is that hedgehog? Did he just call us here for nothing?" Rogue questioned, stomping her foot impatiently. "I should be getting my beauty sleep right now. All girls need it for the next day."
"Negitive," Omega suddenly said.
"Hmm?"
Omega slowly pointed with his robotic arm towards a stack of crates, and on the very top of them was Shadow, who then jumped down the surface, and walked towards Rogue and Omega.
"Well, it took you long enough to get here. Why such a late night role call?" Rogue asked.
"Because after this… you won't be seeing me again," Shadow admitted.
"What?"
"Rogue, Omega… I came here to say my final good bye to you two. I'm going back… fifty years from now… to the space colony ARK."
"What do you need to go there for fifty years from now? There's hardly a reason to go there."
"Rogue, you know why I would want to go to the past. You know the mistake I made and how much I grieve it."
"Mistake? Wait, you don't mean…"
Shadow nodded. "Maria's death. I'm going to prevent it, and I'm getting out of this chaotic time we live in."
"Shadow, what are you thinking? The past is the past, Shadow. You can't change it. How could you even try, anyways?"
"Someone I met… who can send me back with Chaos Control. I don't know how, but somehow, he can."
"Shadow, you can't do this. You never know what may be a trick, and what may not."
"I'm taking a chance though. Life here will probably be better without me here anyways."
"Shadow, that's not true! A lot of things might've happened if you weren't here!"
"The disasters I caused, I suppose?"
Rogue didn't reply, and had silenced herself.
"Rogue, Omega, you two were my closest… friends in this time, but I'm afraid, this is farewell, and I won't be seeing you two… ever again."
"Shadow, this is a mistake you're about to make! Just think about it before you create it!" Rogue exclaimed.
"Rogue is correct. This may very well be a trap set for you," Omega agreed.
"If it is, I will get myself out of it, but if it isn't… good bye," Shadow fare-welled, and disappeared before their eyes with his incredible speed.
"Shadow! Wait!" Rogue called, but he was already gone. "Omega, we can't let him do this, we have to stop him."
"Affirmative, we will give off a chase," Omega said emotionlessly, and Rogue and Omega began to follow him.
As the followed him ahead, Rogue's bat ears caught the sound of other voices somewhat close, trailing behind them, and something sped past her and Omega as they went along the path they believed Shadow was going… it was Sonic.
"Hey, wait a minute, isn't that Sonic? What's he—"
"And what are you doing going this way, Rogue?"
Rogue looked behind her to a familiar voice, and there he was, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles Prower, his nickname being Tails, was there, too. "Well, if it isn't Sonic's little sidekicks. My question is what are you all doing here going this way in such a hurry?"
"Shadow. Sonic said he's going back to the past or something," Knuckles informed.
"So you're after him too…"
"I say, if we want to stop Shadow, we'll all have to team up."
"What? Are you crazy? You think I'm going to team up with you?"
"Unless you want to stop Shadow, you're going to have to deal with it."
Rogue let out a small sigh. "All right then, let's go. I'm sure your hedgehog friend must have gone up ahead?"
"It looks like it. We'll need to catch up, quick."
Rogue nodded, and she, Knuckles, Omega, and Tails went ahead for Sonic, and Shadow.
"What!? Black Arms are here!? But, when I destroyed the Black Comet, it should have gotten rid of all of them!"
Shadow was face to face with hundreds of other Black Arms, the race of aliens Black Doom was of, in front of him, just before the outskirts of the city. With them in the way, there was no way he could make it, but he clinched his fists. He wouldn't let this happen. "No matter, I don't know how these things are all here, but I'll destroy them all!"
Shadow ran forward, and with his chaos and speed abilities, he took all the enemies down, one by one.
After more than an hour, behind him were carnages of dead Black Arms, and green blood dripping down to the ground.
Shadow gasped for breath in exhaustion, and as he took his break, he thought of Maria.
"Maria… I'm coming… as the Ultimate Life-form, I won't let this…"
Shadow stopped. When he mentioned himself as the Ultimate Life-form, he thought of why G.U.N. was after her and himself during his final run with her to escape. It was because they wanted to shut down Project Shadow, and they wanted to get rid of him, the Ultimate Life-form.
"Maria died… not just because of my mistake… because of who I am…" Shadow fell down to his knees, staring at his hands. "I… can't go back… Sonic… was right. If I go back, the same damn thing will happen again…"
Shadow had been wrong the whole time. He couldn't go back and save Maria, he would kill her, again. It would be his fault, again. He would just go through his chaotic life, again. "If I go back… I'll just have more pain added to my life… I can't go back… I can't…"
Shadow banged his fist against the ground. "Damn it Shadow! Damn it! Why did you even think you had a chance of correcting your mistake!? Even if you did go back, what would Maria want with a destructive, lab-created hedgehog such as me? I can't even believe she would've cared for someone like me!"
Shadow sweared and shouted at himself for several minutes, but then after a while, he slowly rose up afterwards. He couldn't just lay here. Now that he had made his true decision, he needed to tell it at the least.
He slowly started to head for the true outskirts of the city, and after a long walk, he saw someone waiting below a light in a dark black cloak, it was the same man as before.
Shadow slowly approached him, and the man looked towards Shadow.
"I'm sorry if I was late," Shadow apologized. "But I have arrived, with my true decision."
"Hahahahahahah… Well done, Shadow, getting through that army of Black Arms. I'm impressed. Bravo, I say, bravo," The man congratulated.
"What? How did you know about the Black Arms? What did you—"
"Relax. I have nothing to do with them, except that they were coming to kill me, but I made a deal with them. They wanted revenge against you, so they were set as a test for you, and it looks like you passed it, which I'm not surprised of."
"Huh, well, my decision… I've truly thought about it, and I have at last made it."
"Well, go on then, tell me."
Shadow was quiet for the first few moments, but finally, he spoke. "I'm… I'm not going back."
"Hmm? Why is that? I thought you wanted to see Maria."
"… It wasn't just my mistake that killed her, it was because of who I am. If I wasn't created to be the Ultimate Life-form, if I were… something else. If I were—"
"If you were human, just like Maria."
Shadow couldn't believe those words. It was as if the man had just looked into his mind, but, he nodded. It was true.
"Ah, I see now, but that, I can also fix, Shadow."
"What!? But… how can you fix something such as… who I am. There's no way…"
"I told you I can use Chaos Control in many specific ways, and send you back through time and space, but as you go through the voids of it… Shadow, those voids have specific powers of their own, powers that can even change genetics of someone like you, the Ultimate Life-form. However, I can control those powers in the voids. I can help you transform into the human you desire to be for Maria…"
Shadow couldn't believe all of the words he was hearing. This sounded… so unreal, but it was true, and he could go back, and change his mistake, and he could be a new person, without a single thought of Maria being killed because she was friends with the Ultimate Life-form.
"… Please, change me into a human! I never thought I would ever say something like this, but please, I want to be human! For Maria! Maria… her life… it would be better if I were human, and not someone so destructive… so…" Shadow's throat was feeling tied up inside, and he was shedding tears, something he would never imagine him doing.
"Is that what you truly want? You want to become human? And you would like to go back to the past, fifty years from now, at the space colony ARK?"
Shadow nodded. "I now, at last, have made my final, true decision. Please, take me back, take me back to that time as a human!"
"Hm hm hm hm hm… All right then, if you have made your true decision, then it will now be granted."
Shadow nodded, and he waited for the final moment of his life as a hedgehog. Now, he would step into a new life, with Maria…
"I hope you are ready then…" The cloaked man began glowing a green color, and Shadow, as well, was starting to glow that color.
"SHADOW! WAIT!"
Shadow's ears caught the shout. He knew this voice. It was Sonic, he was here to stop him. But he stood still. He knew he would be gone before he made it, even at his speed.
"Shadow, don't do this! Shadow!"
It was Rogue now. Shadow knew her voice, and there was no way he could not recognize it.
"Shadow, you're making a huge mistake! Don't do this!"
"Good bye everyone… even after fifty years, I will not be the same… the Ultimate Life-form… won't exist," Shadow was saying his last farewell.
"Chaos… Control!" The cloaked man shouted, and the green light disappeared from him, and Shadow turned completely green, and in moments, he disappeared, and Sonic was too slow, for he was late by a single second.
Sonic looked towards the cloaked man, and gritted his teeth. "Just who do you think you are!? And where's Shadow!? What did you do!?"
"He's back fifty years from now, I'm afraid,"
Rogue flew in near Sonic. "What happened to Shadow? What did you do with that stubborn hedgehog?"
"Hedgehog? I'm afraid he's a hedgehog no longer. Now… that 'hedgehog'… is a human."
It was somewhat quiet, but Shadow could hear two familiar voices speaking to each other. He had not heard them in a long time, but they, indeed, sounded too familiar.
He opened his eyes, and he was in a familiar place he could remember. Yes, it was, it was the space colony ARK!
"Have I… made it?" Shadow asked aloud.
Yes, Shadow had indeed made it. He really was in the space colony ARK. But, was he fifty years in the past?
Shadow listened to the two voices he could hardly hear. In a few minutes, he recognized one, and it was his creator, Professor Gerald! But the other voice… who was it?
After a few minutes, when Shadow indentified it, his fists clinched, it was a voice he could never imagine hearing again… Black Doom.
"Neither of them are alive, so this has to be fifty years in the past…" Shadow figured, but then, there was one more question… was he human?
Shadow looked at his clinched fists, they weren't white and gloved, but they were covered with delicate, human skin.
He looked at a nearby window, and he was shocked by what he saw. It was true, he was human.
He had black hair with red highlights, and it was hanging down with short, dreadlocks which were curled up, seeming like a hanging crescent shape. He had a black shirt with a collar, having red highlights on the edges and down to the center, where golden buttons resided, where it was half-buttoned, and under the black shirt was a white under shirt, and below the shirts were black pants with red highlights at the side, just like the sleeves of his shirt, and he had shoes that looked exactly like his old ones, red at the front and back, and white and black in the middle, but there were no jets at the bottom, and there was an accessory on Shadow, too: a silver necklace with a charm on it of spikes in a swirl-like design.
"I'm… human. I can't believe it," Shadow said under his breath, staring at himself.
He got out of trance from the disbelief, and he walked down the small hallway he was in, and he peaked into the room where he heard Professor Gerald's voice, and Black Doom's voice, and he in the room he saw them both, but it wasn't just them in the room.
At the center of the room, in a large tank with a green liquid inside, there, Shadow saw… himself. It was him while he was still being created, in his original, hedgehog form.
"That's… That's me!" Shadow rasped in a quiet shout to himself. "But, how can I be in two places at once? What's going on?"
"So, if I give you the seven Chaos Emeralds, you will help me with this?" Professor Gerald questioned the leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom.
"That's right. All I need is the seven Chaos Emeralds, and your research will be successful."
"… Fine then."
"Is everything just going to happen again? Will there be… two of me?" Shadow asked himself.
Suddenly, the unborn Shadow the Hedgehog, slowly disappeared from the tank, erased from history, and forever gone.
"I… I disappeared!" Shadow's eyes widened in shock as he saw the event, and he looked at himself, but thankfully, he was not disappearing. "Well, since I'm human now, that erases everything and all the future events of myself as a hedgehog, so I guess it would make sense. But now…"
"What's this!? It's gone! All of that work and research… it's just… gone!" Professor Gerald shouted in rage.
Shadow slowly walked into the room, deciding that it was time that he would hide no longer, but when Professor Gerald saw him, he was filled with anger and rage. "Who are you!? What is a child doing on board the space colony!?"
Shadow wasn't sure about what to say, but he tried to make up a lie. "I… I was sent up here because…"
"Yes? Yes!? Go on child!"
Shadow couldn't think of anything. It was useless. What would he possibly be doing here? An unknown human boy who couldn't reveal his true identity, just what could he do? He stayed quiet, and did not say a word.
"If there's not a single reason you're here, then be gone! Out of here! I'll…"
"Wait, grandpa! Don't hurt him!"
Shadow's eyes widened. That voice… it can't be!
Suddenly, a young girl with long blond hair in blue clothing, and blue eyes came in, and stood beside Shadow. "Grandpa, he's my friend. Please don't hurt him. He's a nice, innocent boy."
"MA-MARIA!"