Shadow of the Scars
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It's been fifty years since that day...
...half a century.
Fifty years of regret...
...of sadness...
...of pain.
I am an old man now.
For most of my long life, I have had a deep feeling of despair over what I did, many years ago.
But more than that, I know...
...I just know...
...that I cannot even begin to imagine the chasm of pain that I caused for that young man...
...hedgehog or not.
I'm almost seventy years old...
...and I know that the time is now.
I now live in a suburb of Station Square...
...and at the moment, I'm standing in its park.
Children play, people relax...
...life goes on.
But there is something that I must do...
...something that I've needed to do...
...for fifty years...
When it all started, I was still in my youth.
I didn't know what I was really getting into at that time...
They were projecting an image of peace, of protection.
They were telling how they were the 'good guys,' the heroes, the protagonists in this story of life.
But they didn't tell what they were truly after...
...they were G.U.N.
A private military unit, located somewhere to the southwest of Station Square, on an island curiously named Prison Island. They worked to protect Station Square, almost like a powerful police unit.
At about the same time, there was talk of a famous genius, by the name of Professor Gerald Robotnik.
There were rumors flying about how he was going to complete his space colony, named ARK. Of course, no one knew his actual motives, but it was interesting all the same.
I didn't know much about what was happening with either group. I wasn't the kind who paid much attention to the media, or tried to interfere with others' lives.
But when G.U.N. was giving the young men of Station Square great offers, offers for training, education...
...it seemed too good to be true.
But it wasn't.
I was trained to fight and defend myself and my company.
I was the kind of boy who yearned for action, who wanted to be in the thick of the battle, who would do anything for his comrades and wanted to go the whole nine yards to protect them.
I was optimistic.
Naturally...
...I'd never fought before.
I'd never done anything like that before.
I didn't know.
I was sickeningly ignorant.
I never thought about what I was doing this for.
I only knew that I was getting a lot of things, like an education, that would be hard for me to get otherwise.
My family was caring. My parents supported me all the way. They all cheered for me, to go as far as I could go, to learn as much as I could, to protect Station Square with all of my might.
At this time, G.U.N. was still young. All of us, young and full of strength, were truly working for a better future.
We really wanted to make Earth a better place.
A lot of us saw how Man had made mistakes on Earth... and most of us felt that it was up to Man to try to fix those mistakes.
After several months working with G.U.N., rumors began to fly among us.
Some people began to say that something was going on up in space, on that ARK colony.
They said that Professor Gerald was trying to create a monster, a giant lizard.
They said that he was creating great weapons, capable of destroying the entire world.
Since this was all being passed on by word-of-mouth, I was careful, and took everything I heard with a grain of salt. But it was still worrisome...
My early times with G.U.N. were enjoyable, if one could call it that. I was trained to work with man-operated robots, virtually mechanical juggernauts. I learned to train my body, I learned to fight...
However, I never could learn to actually design or build the robots, like the Hunters or Beetles. I didn't like that kind of work... it was too slow, too dull for me.
Back in those days, the self-operating robots that G.U.N. used were high-maintenance and not particularly useful in combat. There was no effective power source, and the robots did far less than a human could do at the same time. The only kinds of robots that did anything worthwhile were the operated mechs, the kind that a person sat in and worked from the inside.
I didn't like using the mechanical means of fighting... I preferred to do things my way, even if it was less 'high-tech' than what the others did.
Even so, I was still required to know as much as I could about the 'tools' available for use.
And it was one day, while I was browsing through the database, trying to study up on them, that I found it.
A plan.
Called "ARK's Indestructible Seal."
ARK...
That was the space colony.
That space colony, launched by Professor Gerald Robotnik.
What I read shocked me.
Going on, up on that space colony, beyond the reaches of anyone's knowledge, Prof. Robotnik was creating a monster.
A monster, code-named "Project: Shadow."
The rumors about a lizard, more powerful than any other being on Earth... the "Ultimate Life Form: Prototype"...
...it was all true...
What was written on the database entry was not very clear, but I didn't need to wait for long before it was made crystal what it meant.
The very next day, the high-ranking officials of G.U.N. assembled everyone into one meeting room.
They told us our worst fears, about how Prof. Gerald was creating terrible demons, creatures that, if not stopped now, could be made to be immortal. They told us of the lizard, the bio-engineered lizard, that was growing reckless, even against its own creators.
The feeling was unanimous. This thing had to be stopped.
Within seven days of the plan's commencing, we had headed up to ARK.
Armed with a sturdy rifle, I only knew my orders.
To destroy Project: Shadow. To destroy those closest to Robotnik's "inner circle."
Our leaders had told us that they would sort out any problems that came up. We were only to follow our orders.
We docked on ARK.
We boarded.
I was amazed.
The entire structure was astonishingly built. It was a hidden city, far up in the heavens.
But there wasn't any time to stand around and gawk.
I had a mission.
My first, real mission...
"You there! Go down that hall!" an official ordered me. "There's a lab down that way. Find it!"
"Yes sir," I responded, then took off, with several of my colleagues following.
As we ran, our leaders communicated with us over the radio.
Heading down the hall, the radio buzzed...
...words that I will never forget...
"...hurry up! There is a black hedgehog loose ahead of you! Do whatever you have to, but catch it! It's Project: Shadow!"
Project: Shadow? A hedgehog?
But there wasn't any time to wonder. Orders were orders.
Running, we saw a little girl ahead of us...
...with the black hedgehog at her side...
They were heading towards the lab that we had been told about!
"Don't let them escape!" someone shouted.
But I wouldn't have.
I reached the lab ahead of everyone else.
That girl had summoned an escape capsule. It was there, ready to close whenever it was needed!
"Don't move!" I screamed.
But she paid me no heed.
"I'll shoot!"
Nothing.
Then...
To this day, I don't know what compelled me to do such a thing.
The so-called "heat of battle"... the drunken excitement of my orders.
All I know is that...
...that day, my life was changed forever.
Even as I pulled the trigger, something in my mind screamed at me, "Stop!!"
But it was too late.
It was as if I saw it moving in slow motion...
...driving through the air...
...heading to her death.
'No...
'No...!!'
But it was too late.
She was already half gone... but she still had strength left for one thing.
She closed that capsule.
Project: Shadow was in it.
And with her last few breaths, I heard her words...
...the only words I ever heard her speak.
...but they told me what kind of a person she was.
"Shadow, I beg of you..."
No...
"Please do it for me... for a better future!"
A better... future...
"For all the people who live on that planet... give them a chance to be happy..."
Please no... don't talk like that...
"Let them live for their dreams... Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world..."
Shadow... Project... Shadow...?
I looked at the black hedgehog... Shadow... trapped in the glass tube.
And it was then that I realized...
...that it was wrong.
It was all wrong.
This wasn't right.
That creature wasn't a monster.
It... or rather, he... was a living, breathing individual...
...who was feeling more pain than I could possibly imagine.
And as I looked into his eyes, I could see that he loved this girl more than anyone in the world.
And from what she was doing, she loved him just as much.
I was the sole witness to this...
"Sayonara... Shadow the Hedgehog..."
He was gone.
Shadow was gone.
And as I looked...
...she was gone, too.
At that moment, the others caught up to me.
It had been less than thirty seconds.
The others left to report to the officials.
But I stayed back...
There was a strange mix of emotions inside me...
...but above it all, one thing stood out.
This was wrong.
This was wrong, wrong, wrong...
I didn't care anymore.
This was wrong.
It wasn't fair.
Project: Shadow wasn't the monster anymore.
I was.
I'd seen the hedgehog get away.
I hoped he'd stay away.
But that girl...
Her body, devoid of her soul, still lay where she had fallen.
This was wrong...!
I had taken a life.
Was this... what fighting was about?
What was this?
I stared at the rifle in my hand.
All of a sudden, I furiously threw it to the ground.
Why does Man create such weapons... when all they do is kill?
I slumped down against the doorway...
...and cried.
While G.U.N. was returning to Earth, I couldn't help but go back to that moment.
Little did I know that I would revisit that moment for the rest of my life.
I wondered, questioned, begged to know why I had done what I did...
But it was when we returned to the base that the worst part of this hit me.
I found out what this had been about.
That girl... was Maria Robotnik, the granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik.
She was sick, with a devastating illness. That was why she was in space.
That was why Prof. Robotnik had been researching an "Ultimate Life Form" in the first place... to find a way to treat Maria through gene therapy.
Why had we attacked ARK?
Because the officials at G.U.N. feared the project.
No one would admit it. But I knew.
I just knew.
I also found out what had happened during the rest of "ARK's Indestructible Seal".
The others had been evacuated to Earth, under the premise that a biohazardous accident had occurred.
Those closest to Robotnik had died. The people who died had been said to be victims of the disaster.
On the list of those who had died was Maria.
When I saw it, I hated myself even more.
I had to leave.
I couldn't stay here any longer.
I finally realized what I had been blind to for so long.
G.U.N. itself was a monster.
A monster that craved only power. It was proven when they began to take some of the components of Project: Shadow, such as Chaos Drives, to fuel their own robots, their own ideals...
I resigned.
I went home.
But the scars went with me.
In less than thirty seconds, my heart had been torn apart.
And the wound would stay with me for the rest of my life.
My family tried to help me recuperate.
They tried to understand... really. I knew they meant well.
They forgave me.
But I never forgave myself.
I was never made to fight.
It wasn't who I was.
I just wished that I'd known that...
...before she had to pay.
The scars would stay with me for the decades to come.
The pain would fade...
...but, in my dreams, those moments would come back.
I knew, that even if I lived to be a hundred and fifty, those seconds would never disappear.
I would never forget...
Then, one day, fifty years later...
ARK was falling towards Earth.
As I watched it on the television, I couldn't help but feel that this was a punishment for what G.U.N. had done to Project: Shadow...
...but the world was saved.
By two hedgehogs.
And, as I watched...
...I knew one of them was Shadow.
That same Shadow, the one that escaped to Earth all those years ago...
Weeks passed...
...until there was word that Sonic the Hedgehog, who had saved us from the falling ARK, was in Station Square.
Leaving the seniors' home, I made my way to town. Asking around, I heard that he was spending the day with some friends in the park...
...which is where I am now.
I can see him, Sonic, lying under the shade of a tree, eyes closed, just generally relaxing...
...but next to him, with his knees drawn up to his chest, his chin resting on his arms, is...
...Shadow.
His expression is serene, as if he is reminiscing upon days long past...
...I can only wonder what he is thinking.
I walk past the children playing, the people talking...
Quietly, so as not to startle them, I walk up to the two hedgehogs.
Shadow doesn't move, while Sonic idly opens one eye.
"Hey, old-timer. Nice day, huh?"
I smile at his rather cheeky greeting, but I turn to Shadow.
He blinks once, as if waking from a peaceful dream, then lifts his head.
Today is the day.
Fifty years of pain, of sadness, of regret...
...today, I can apologize with my heart to that young man.
I know that no matter what I do, it'll never bring her back...
...but the least I can do is to try and make amends with him, to do everything in my power to try and heal some of his pain...
As I look into his eyes, I can see their brilliant shade of blood-red...
...but at the same time, I see an expression so much like the one that I saw in her sky-blue eyes...
I know G.U.N. would hate me for this.
But I don't care anymore...
As he looks at me, I wonder if he remembers.
I don't want to apologize to ease my own guilt.
Even though I know that there are no words that can exactly express what I want to say, I want him to know...
...that, truly...
...I'm sorry...