One of Blood, Other of Steel: The Recreation
1
High above Earth, floating in a slow, thorough course around the blue planet's orbit, was one of the most magnificent structures created by mankind.
The first Bernal Space Colony…
The Ark.
But for over fifty years however, the colony has remained uninhabited due a military shut down of the colony when it was deemed a threat to the continued existence of the very planet it orbited.
Hundreds of lives were unjustly taken, and the lead scientist aboard the Ark, Professor Gerald, was captured and executed soon after.
For the Ark possessed a deadly weapon, the Eclipse Cannon, an insanely powerful weapon of mass destruction that could destroy an entire world in an instant, thus the reason why it came to be feared and summarily, decommissioned.
But very recently, the Ark has proved that in the right hands, it could be used to save the world that had come to fear it.
So could the one who'd used it…
***
"Shadow, please…I beg of you…do it for me… for all people of the planet… please give them a chance to be happy…"
So… that's what this girl… Maria… wanted…
Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Life-form, another great achievement of mankind and recovered amnesiac, focused intently on the photograph he held in his hand as he stood within a small chamber aboard the Ark.
On the photograph, were two people who had given up their lives just so he could have the right to exist.
Professor Gerald Robotnik, his creator, was sitting down in a seat, smiling gently despite the large white mustache that attempted to hide it, as his picture was taken.
And to his right, leaning slightly on his shoulder, was a beautiful young girl with long light blonde hair wearing a blue dress.
Maria…
He could remember them both now so clearly, a small part of him was ashamed he could have ever forgotten. He owed them more then he could ever possibly give them now.
They'd given him the strength to defeat the powerful monster that had called himself Black Doom, and with the power of this Space Colony, destroyed the creature's entire army that had sought to drain the very life from the planet Gerald and Maria both cherished so much, but had only hated them in return.
A truly ironic twist that had left Maria dead, and Professor Gerald to go insane with grief before he himself was killed.
Shadow snorted derisively and shook his head.
The selfish stupidity of mankind always befuddled and enraged him at the same time.
Anything that was new or different they would always inevitably hate or treat with suspicion and mistrust.
Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, the ebony hedgehog stared at the Earth through the large viewport before him.
This planet, filled with so many ungrateful beings…
Did its people truly deserve the kindness that Maria had wanted for them?
Did they deserve his protection?
Well… he would see…
But in his own way…
Shadow the Hedgehog stared at the photograph he held in his hand for one last time.
Stared at the people who'd sacrificed themselves for him and a world of peace… and realized he could no longer allow them to hold him back from the future that it was up to him to create.
The world suddenly blurred…
His eyes, were they burning…?
Shadow blinked hard, no, just his imagination.
He turned away from the magnificent view of the planet Earth, and without so much as a second glance tossed the photograph away.
And with it, his ghastly past.
"Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog…"
And the Ultimate Lifeform, with the utterance of two words, left his past behind for good.
"Chaos Control."
He disappeared then, in a burst of brilliant jade flame.
And indeed, for the first time in Shadow's life, the chaos of his existence, was indeed controlled.
For now…