A new story! Enjoy:)
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.
Chapter 1
Old Memories, New Beginnings
The lone figure stood by the wall, a single rose in his hands and a dejected sigh escaping from his emotionless face, trying to figure out what to do next. He was by the entrance to a graveyard, all horrific and grey in its own beauty, tapping at the wall and getting restless. He at one time used to go to the grave of a long-lost friend every day and would always put a single rose on the little shelf… just for her. Today was different though, he hadn't seen or been to the grave for 5 years and he grew worried that her soul was unable to rest in peace because of that. He stayed in the shadows for a while, then he gathered up his old courage and slowly walked into the graveyard without disturbing the grieving people.
He was an attractive young man with pale and tanned skin, a masculine body, and crimson eyes. His black hair was at shoulder length with red highlights in it. He was wearing black jeans, black boots, and over his blue shirt he wore a black trench coat. One of his hands was in his pocket and the other one was covered in a black glove but also held the red rose. He always looked so serious but right now, he was sad. He never did show a lot of emotion for the past many years… not once did he ever change from being the gun wielding good guy to the heartless bad guy he used to be.
As he walked, he started to remember the incident. That was the day when he lost her… his only best friend to the military. How he wished he could have done something to protect her, but that was never to be. She was gone… it was her choice to stay behind and die. When her body was brought to Earth, it was burned to ash and placed in the wall with all of the other cremated bodies.
He wasn't there during her funeral, but somehow he knew about it.
'At least I know that she's happy to have her burial on Earth.' That was what he thought when he first saw the plaque on the wall. Thinking about it now made him twitch all over his body. He calmed when he remembered him. Well, he didn't remember at first… but his "friend" told him about it and he recollected everything. He now remembered the blue blur that was his double, Space Colony ARK… everything was coming back to him now, even the memories of his "friend", Rouge, and his "teammate", Omega.
His last memory was of his gun wielding days and deciding whether or not he should be the good guy or bad guy. It wasn't easy being the good guy… or that's what he thought anyway. Another sigh escaped his lips and he stopped walking when he got to the plaque. The bronze plaque looked like it was embedded to the wall like the others… with a small shelf attached above the name that was engraved in it. It was the perfect place to put the rose. He placed the rose on the little shelf and stood there, staring at the plaque and whispering a short prayer for his friend.
On the plaque, though, was a name that read in big capital letters:
MARIA R.
Then it showed the year of her birth and death underneath it. He kept on looking at it, then he remembered the day that some "deranged hack" as he called him had placed a curse on him. He tried to shake the memory away but he couldn't. He stayed focused after a while only to say, "I'm sorry for making you wait… Maria." Then, as he turned towards the entrance/exit, he heard someone scream in a grieving sort of tone and shout out through brokenhearted sobs, "WHY?!… WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME YOU BASTARD! I NEVER… EVER… WANTED TO VISIT YOU! YOU HEAR ME YOU FILTHY, LYING SON OF A BITCH!!! NEVER!!!!"
He turned his head toward the voice and saw someone by a headstone with the hands on the headstone and the knees firmly on the ground. He suddenly grew curious, which was rare even for him, and walked towards the grieving person. When he got there, he saw a blonde haired, girl who was bawling her eyes out very loudly and screaming her heart out.
"I HATE YOU!!! YOU HEAR ME YOU BASTARD!! I HOPE YOU WENT TO THE FIREY PITS… YOU JERK!!" she screamed. After her outburst she broke down crying and removed one hand from the headstone so she could cover her eyes. The young man sighed and couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl; that too was rare for him. He kneeled beside her and touched her shoulder gently which startled her.
"Don't be afraid. I'm just here for a little while, so why don't you tell me what your problem is." he said, coolly. She spun her head around and faced him. More tears came out of her eyes as she said, "I-I-I-I'm sorry… I-I-I w-was causing s-such a racket. I'm sorry f-for d-disturbing the sp-spirits."
"I'm not here because of your loud voice…" he simply replied. He didn't want to admit it but… the girl was just so cute! She looked like she was 18-years-old with long, back length yellow hair, a high school uniform, Mary Janes, white socks, light skin and beautiful hazelnut eyes. He sighed heavily and added, "I'm only here because of why you were crying and cursing at a headstone."
The girl stared at him and hissed her words out.
"My boyfriend just died yesterday a-a-and… s-so was… his funeral…" She whispered while she said the last words that came out of her mouth. He nodded his head several times before he replied, "How did he die?" The girl removed her other hand from the headstone and sniffled.
"H-H-He died… in a c-car accident… h-he l-l-l-left me… that BASTARD!!!" she cried. He shook his head seeing her cry and simply said, "His death was not his fault, he didn't know he was going to die either… until it happened."
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!" the girl screamed. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE YOUR ONLY BEST FRIEND AND TRUE LOVE!!!!" He was shocked to hear those words and was hurt because of them. "I see…" he said quietly. "You don't need comforting or kind words or all of that goody-two shoes crap from me."
He stood up straight and was about to walk away when the girl said, "Wait." He stopped and looked at her. "What?" he asked.
"I'm sorry… I guess you do… know what it's like… to lose someone… so close to you."
"I know what's its like to lose my only best friend… but I've never loved anyone before."
She faced him and looked up, startled at what he said to her.
"Never?"
"Never."
"Not even… a girl?"
"Never."
The girl took all of this in and then leaped to her feet.
"I can teach you!" she said, suddenly. The young man stepped back a bit, looking a little startled and confused.
"Wha-?"
"I… can… teach… you."
"What the hell do you mean?"
She gathered up her courage to stop crying and ask, "Will you… go out with me?"
This was more shocking to him than anything else. This was happening so fast that he didn't know what to do or say. He cleared his head of negativity and calmly said, "I don't know… We just met ya know!"
The girl's face turned to a slight shade of pink and hung her head. He didn't want to see her cry again so he changed the subject by asking, "What's your name?"
The girl looked at his face for a while, then answered, "My… name is… ummmmmm… Maria He… drik… Maria Hedrick."
Hearing the name 'Maria' the young man's eyes bulged slightly and sudden flashbacks appeared in his mind. He held his head as if he had a headache and staggered a bit.
"Are you okay?" Maria asked a little worried. He calmed immediately and put both of his hands in his pockets while regaining his normal stance.
"Is something wrong?" she asked once again.
He shook his head and said, "It's just that… you have the same name as her."
"As who?"
"Never mind." He walked towards the entrance/exit of the graveyard once again and once again stopped when he heard Maria call out to him.
"I didn't get your name yet! What is it!" she called.
He smirked a little, turned around to face her and simply answered, "Shadow." As the sun started to set, Shadow gasped and ran out of the cemetery, though he thought he heard her say something about Emerald Beach.
The moon shone in the sky that night and cast its light on all the lit up buildings in Station Square, giving off its uniqueness. Somewhere on the now lit up Central Highway, on top of the highway bridge, Shadow… now a black hedgehog looked at the sky and saw the giant silver plate in the sky along with the bright, twinkling stars; wondering about what to do now.
"If I wasn't cursed to be human by day and myself at night then I would've said 'No' to her." he said in scorn. "And why was I trying to cheer her up?! Gah! I have enough problems on my hands as it is!"
'My name is Maria…' Shadow's mind echoed with what she said and sighed heavily. He then closed his eyes and thought about Maria… the Maria from his past and the Maria that he just met today.
"Maria in heaven… what should I do?" he asked mentally. As he was figuring this stuff out, the communicator on his left ear vibrated a little, causing him to snap out of his trance and answer the incoming call.
"What is it?" he asked in an annoyed tone. The reason why Shadow had a communicator on his ear was because he had agreed to be a part of Sonic the Hedgehog's team two years ago, before the curse. He hadn't heard from anyone in over a month now so this secretly took him by surprise.
"Hey Shadow, can you hear me?" asked a slight, high-pitched voice from the communicator. Shadow sighed wearily.
"Yeah I can hear you Tails. What's new?"
"Trouble that's what's new."
"What kind of trouble?"
"A bank robbery… in downtown Station Square."
"The one north from the base?"
A sigh came from the communicator and replied in an annoyed way, "Yes, the one north of the base… I've scanned the area, too and the criminal is at large there. I tried getting more info but… the scanner detected huge amounts of Chaos energy… and crashed… I also don't want to send Sonic, Knuckles or Rouge there so I thought… since you can control Chaos energy…"
"That I should go over there to investigate? No… I have enough problems as it…"
"NOW SHADOW!!!! WHILE THE CRIMINAL IS STILL AT LARGE!!!!!"
Shadow flinched hearing Tails yell in his ear and replied in an almost shaky voice, "Okay." Then he turned off the communicator, put on his air shoes and took off at sonic speed towards the bank.
I think this chapter is better than my previous chapters in my last story, but that's just me saying this. -sweat drops- Anyway please review and let me know what you think, okay:) If you have any suggestions for making any of my stories (meaning this story and my other one called 'I Would Do Anything') better, then send me a message letting me know please. :)
