Shadow blinked a several times as he listened to the Commander in disbelief. The human was making some horrible accusations against him. Supposedly, Shadow had killed Maria. Shadow didn't quite remember all of the events on the ARK, but he was pretty sure that he was not the killer. Why would he kill someone he loved? Shadow could tell, that from the emotion within his flashbacks, that this 'Maria' girl, was very important to him once.
"Maria was like a sister to me," the Commander said angrily. This made Shadow frown, he could have sworn he didn't remember anyone else being so close to Maria. Sure, he'd lost most of his memory, but… he was sure that Maria did not have any other friends. "And because of you, she was killed."
Now this… made Shadow's blood boil. As it would for any person who'd been accused of something they hadn't done. The statement could have been interpreted to mean that Shadow was the indirect cause of Maria's death but… the hedgehog knew what the Commander was getting at, and Shadow could see that the Commander wanted him to pay for it. The high level of anger suggested the more serious accusation.
The Commander went on to explain his reasons… to which Shadow listened for the most part. But when the hedgehog engaged with this story, to give his feedback, the Commander was less than pleased. He yelled while waving his gun about, the weapon which Shadow was very wary of. The hedgehog had dropped his weapons, which, by then, regretted.
"You don't fool me with your innocence," the Commander yelled. "Not only was Maria killed, but so was my family!" He pointed the gun at Shadow… aimed to kill. "Finally, justice is served!"
The bang echoed through the large room they stood in on the ARK. Shadow was well out of the Commander's view. The nam was taken by surprise, and jumped at the sudden disappearance.
But Shadow was right behind him, not harmed at all. He had his arms crossed and he was looking down, as if the situation didn't unnerve him. He caught the Commander's attention by speaking up.
"If what you say is true, then I will respectfully accept my fate," Shadow said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. But he knew that the Commander was wrong, and that he would not have to accept this fate.
"You mean to tell me that you really don't remember a thing?" the Commander asked, sounding perplexed. Shadow smirked, but hid it as well as he could, it had worked. But he wiped the smirk of his face to speak, or it would have shown in his speech.
"But I need some time… to uncover the real truth," Shadow said, then let his arms drop to the sides, and walked out slowly. He left the Commander to feel guilty about the hard time he'd given him. Besides, there were more important things to do. He had to find Black Doom.
…
After a long and tiring run through the ARK, Shadow managed to reach the Computer room, where Black Doom was floating in the middle.
"What is this defiance!?" he boomed. Shadow plucked up the courage to speak.
"Black Doom, I need to know the truth," he began seriously, there was a clear hint of urgency. "Do the humans refer to me as 'The Evil One'? Tell me, I need to know!" Shadow was just looking for that confirmation, and he was sure he would get it. The Commander was wrong!
"It is true!" Those words made Shadow's stomach churn. "I created you, so it is only natural for you have 'evil' tendencies." Shadow felt his whole world fall apart within his head. Had his memories lied to him? His memories were his world, and for them to be wrong, was the destruction of his world.
"D-does that mean…?" Shadow said lowly as he looked down. He didn't want to finish his sentence, he could say those words. Just thinking of the words made him want to vomit.
"Yes. You are the one who caused the tragedy on the ARK," Black Doom said. Shadow's breath was caught in his throat. He looked up, accepting his fate.
"If that's true, I'll have to accept the responsibility for my crimes," Shadow said boldly. He was different now, and did not agree with his past actions. "I will avenge the victims who… died on the ARK on that tragic day." Shadow had paused, as he thought about the wording of his sentence. He was going to say 'the victims who I-' He couldn't even bring himself to think it.
"The humans seemed to have convinced you with this…. moral absurdity," Black Doom said in disappointment. "Therefore I have no choice but to kill you too!" He swiped his large hand to the side. At that, adrenaline shot through Shadow's veins and energised him for the fight to come. He jumped into action; he had to stick by his word and make up for what he had done 50 years ago.
...
It didn't take long for Shadow to defeat Black Doom. The alien lied on the floor, while Shadow took his emerald. All seven were glowing while they floated around Shadow in a circle.
"Shadow, this isn't over yet!" Black Doom said through his heavy breaths. "The Black Arms will rise again!"
"I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A research experiment gone deadly wrong," Shadow said ashamedly. "I've caused so much destruction; I should never have been created. This is who I am."
At that, GUN soldiers began storming the room. They ran across the large floor with guns at the ready. Shadow turned to look at them all, and began walking towards them shamefully. Vector, whose presence Shadow had forgotten about, spoke up.
"Hey! Don't go there yet. Things may not be what they seem. You could be innocent!" Vector cried out, but Shadow didn't think much of his words. Of course he was guilty. He was the one who was responsible for the death of the people on the ARK, and there was no way around it.
Shadow walked past the swarms of soldiers, like swimming up the stream. Some of them, stopped in front of Shadow. The hedgehog looked up at them slowly, as if to acknowledge their existence, then looked down again. He felt like dirt, unworthy to look at other living things. The only person he felt superior to, was Black Doom, who would be worm-food soon enough. Shadow didn't flinch at all when he heard the stream of bullets banging loudly before they all hit Black Doom's body. GUN was finishing the alien off, while Shadow awaited his fate.
When quiet fell on the area, the Commander walked into the room quickly. He stopped for a moment when he saw Shadow, in the shameful, surrendering position. When Shadow saw him at the corner of his eye, he put up his hands.
"There, you have what you want," Shadow said monotonously. "Take me in. Kill me. Torture me. Whatever you humans do to criminals like me."
The Commander was smirking as he walked right up to Shadow. The soldiers stepped apart, giving the higher-positioned human the room to approach.
"There's no way out of it now, Shadow," the Commander said as he pulled handcuffs out of his trousers pocket. Shadow felt his heart rate increase as the Commander clipped the cuffs around Shadow's wrists. "I'd like to take you up on your offer. You're coming with us."
Shadow silently hoped that the Commander wasn't taking him up on the 'torture' offer, and was instead going for the 'take me in' offer. Perhaps he was getting taken back to Prison Island, and that would be the end of it. The hedgehog was filled with dread during the ride back down to Earth, and even more dread as he was brought to GUN HQ. This wasn't Prison Island, and he would not be given a peaceful ending in the cryochamber again.
The Commander shoved Shadow into a small room and slammed the door behind him. Shadow hit the wall then slid to the floor, falling to his hands and knees. It was dark in this hard, cold, concrete room. His knees were grazed and his head ached from the collision with the close wall. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, to see a small window at average human eye-height. It let in enough light for Shadow to see that the room he was in, was very small. There was enough room to sit, stand, and lie down. But not walk. A human would have found the space even more constraining.
Shadow flopped onto the floor and curled up.
"I killed…" he whispered. "I killed her." He felt his heart twitch, wrench, and tug inside of him. His whole body shivered and his eyes filled with tears. "I… killed her," he repeated as his grit his teeth. "Why? Why would I kill someone I love so much!"
Then he choked in pain as his head hurt. A sharp wave of agony shot through it, but it seemed to circle his brain, remaining. Shadow closed his eyes tight and grit his teeth to try and bare it. He put his hands on his head and pushed on his skull. He hadn't felt this much pain since-
Shadow screamed as he remembered something horrible. Professor Gerald… wiping his memory. This was something, Shadow felt, he was not meant to see, was not meant to remember. Like he'd entered a forbidden zone in his mind.
"No! What did you do to me!?" he yelled and tugged at his ears. "STOP!" The memory played in his mind, it felt as if he was there. "NO!"
Shadow attempted to pull his arm away as the Professor grabbed it, but his arm stayed in the same place. Like a bad dream he had no control of. A sharp pain occurred in the inside of the joint, the most sensitive part, the part with the veins. His memory flashed forward slightly, and Shadow rubbed his arm. Then a separate needle was administered… into his skull. Shadow screamed in agony as he was pushed against the wall, and he could do nothing to stop the Professor from digging deeper and deeper, until he hit the brain.
Shadow felt himself back in his present body, and he shook about like crazy. He stopped when he realised that it was over.
"You'll be someone completely new, Shadow," the Professor's voice echoed in his mind. "This will allow you to survive, and integrate into their society. Until necessary. Then, you will strike."
"It hurt…" Shadow mumbled, out loud, and in his mind. He heard his own voice doubly, it echoed.
"Well, you did kill my granddaughter," Gerald said in a snarky tone. "I suppose that makes us just about even."
"No… it doesn't," Shadow mumbled, but there was no voice of the past to back it up.
"The new memories should take effect soon. Get into the escape pod."
Shadow's breathing quickened.
"No. That's not how it happened," he panicked. "I didn't- that's not me- the professor wouldn't-" he couldn't even finish his sentences.
The door swung open, and Shadow straightened up to look behind him.
"You look a mess. We haven't even started yet," the Commander said with a cruel smirk.
"Do as you wish. I deserve what I get," Shadow said overdramatically.
"Oh, shut up," the Commander said harshly, then bent down and picked Shadow up by the scruff of his neck. Shadow curled up slightly in his grip. "You've become pathetic all of a sudden." Shadow just hissed in pain in response. He didn't actually have a scruff of the neck… but he did have back spines, and it hurt to be picked up by them. It rendered him vulnerable too. But he didn't fight it; he felt he deserved it.
"The Professor he…" Shadow mumbled.
"Save it, Shadow. I don't care," the Commander said as he carried Shadow down the corridor.
"He… changed my memories. I… really killed her," Shadow said. "I thought she loved me." He sounded hurt, and all of his feelings were pouring out. Shadow was in a bad place to be opening up in such a situation. Tears dripped from his cheeks, leaving a trail of tear drops behind him. "She never even knew me."