This appears to be the second-coolest story I've ever written! Yay! (I hope it stays that way...)

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy and check out my profile!

2

Project Shadow

In the next few days after our encounter with Sonic and Tails, we had to do research on the location of Project Shadow. We also still had our normal classes.

See, we didn't go to a public school. If we did, we'd be kicked out as soon as Dad had to sign something, or when there was an open house. So Dad taught us instead.

We learned reading, lots of math, twice as much science, and a little writing. We also took speech lessons (For those long speeches we had to say), machine building lessons, and other things. But we hung out in our rooms most of the time. Like we were now.

Well, right now we were in our hangout space. It had 4 laptops, 4 iPads, and other cool things in sets of 4's. James, being the computer geek, was playing Solitaire on the computer. Mark was reading a book, Ben was goofing off on his iPad with the My-Tie app, and I was writing in my diary. Suddenly, Eggman burst in. We all jumped in surprise.

"What happened?!" we all exclaimed, leaping up.

"I found it. Project Shadow might as well be in my control this very minute!" Eggman said. We all cheered. Then Eggman went back to the control room and steered the ship to where it was.

Project Shadow was not what we expected.

We arrived at midnight. The location was the old GUN base, until they moved to New Mobotropolis. Everything was covered in vines and plants. James was humming the Indiana Jones theme. Dad tried to open the door, but it was locked. So I held up my Evaporating Gun and disintegrated it.

Once we stepped in, I shivered. It was still cold!

"Okay, kids! Project Shadow is somewhere in this old base. I'll go this way, and the rest of you look that way." Dad whispered. We went off to our separate destinations.

"Mark…" I murmured. He turned his head "I'm scared."

"Don't be. Nothing's here to-" suddenly, a guard robot flew from behind a wall. I screamed in surprise and ran off just to bump right into another one. We were surrounded!

"Get them!" a robot ordered. We fought them off the best we could, but things began to look bleak after awhile. 4 against 40 was an unfair fight! That's when I saw it. An icy capsule with a dark shape inside. In painted red letters the container read 'Project Shadow—DO NOT TOUCH!' But we were going to touch, alright.

"I found it!" I said "Its right over there!" we fought a little harder, and we won! I immediately pulled out my wrist-watch and spoke into it "Dad, we found Project Shadow."

"Great! I'll catch up with you!" he exclaimed. A few minutes later, the man came up to the box. We looked into it. Because of the ice, we couldn't see what was in it too well. So we pressed a few buttons and entered a password: Ma-Ri-A. There was a click, and the top lifted. Steam lifted out so thick that it was hard to see. Once it finally cleared, there was a familiar figure standing up.

"Sonic?!" we all exclaimed. Whatever it was went down to one knee and bowed before Dad.

"I am Shadow. Thank you for awakening me. In return, I shall obey your every word as if law." The mysterious person said.

"Come forward." Dad ordered. The figure stood up and took a few steps until only a foot stood in between it and us. Project Shadow was an ebony hedgehog with red streaks in his quills. He had ruby red eyes, and a tuft of white fur on his chest. His shoes were of a type with technology I had never seen before. We stood there, looking at each other.

"What are you?" James asked. We all looked at him in surprise.

"Can't you tell a hedgehog when you see one?!" Shadow asked in disbelief.

"Well, you're not exactly a normal hedgehog," Dr. Eggman stated

"Right." We headed for the exit when another hoard of robots flew by and blocked our path. All of us held up our guns, while Shadow got in a defensive stance in front of us. "No, let me show you my true power."

Then Shadow rushed forward. All I saw was a flash, and all the robots were destroyed. I stood there gaping as Shadow dusted his hands off like it was nothing. And he didn't even break a sweat!

"Now lets go." He said. We ran up to him and we left on the ship we used to get here.

A few days later, I was laying in my room. I reached under my bed to pull out my diary, but it wasn't there. I groped for it and almost fell on my head looking for it under there, but it had vanished! I leaped up and stormed to the living room. James, Mark, Ben, and Shadow were the only ones in there, and they were all looking at something. Well, except Shadow.

"This doesn't seem right, guys…" he insisted.

"If you don't want to look, then go away." James said. Shadow bowed his head.

"Yes, Master James." He muttered as he walked away. He bumped into me at the entrance.

"What are they looking at?" I asked him.

"A book. It had your name on it, and every other page starts with 'Dear Diary.' It had some stuff in there, and I was trying to get them to stop, but they ordered me to leave…" Shadow looked down. He looked 16, was over 50 years old, but seemed to act 5 sometimes. The way he looked down and shuffled his feet reminded me of a five year old.

"It's alright. You did your best." I said. Then I walked up to my brothers, snatched my book out of their hands, and thwacked them on the head with it.

"Don't touch my book!" then I walked away, Shadow not too far behind.

We hung out in my room. Shadow had pulled out an old book and started writing in it with a fountain pen. Soon he started to squirm, and before I knew it he bolted out my room, making a beeline for the bathroom.

While he was gone, I grew curious about the book. I reached for it, but then stopped myself when my fingers brushed the worn leather edges. If I read it, I would be at the same level as my brothers.

But Shadow seemed so…withdrawn. He rarely ever stayed in groups, it took awhile to get him to talk, and when he did it could be a sentence or two. He never even ate dinner with us unless he didn't have a choice. If I read it, I might be able to find out why.

I picked up the book and leafed through the yellowed pages. Soon I was pulled in. My eyes were wide in amazement. Shadow had lived most of his life on the Space Colony Ark, way out in space. He was the subject of dangerous experiments, like poison tests. He used to have a best friend named Maria. As my eyes skimmed the pages, I saw my name and Maria on the same page. I read closer.

'October 5th, 2012

Ever since Eggman woke me up I've felt…incomplete. Maria wanted me to be happy and to make others happy. Somehow, for some reason, I feel as if I can't truly do either here. Since the last time I had been around humans, everything has changed. People hold little machines up to their face and talk into them, or have little strings coming out of their ears. Songs I have never heard before blared on 'radios', and terms I have never heard of were in them. Sometimes it seems like only 3 things from the past exist now; the stars, the earth, and me. But Elise…she reminds me of Maria. Just the way she is…playful, energetic, social, caring, kind…I can't help but think of Maria. But I can't get close to her! I can't get close to anyone now! If I do, they'll just get killed like Maria did. I don't want someone to be harmed because of me. If I ever saw Elise hurt…I wouldn't be able to take it. I'd probably lock myself up in a room until my life force runs out. Whenever that would be. Eggman says I'm destined to live forever. So if I made friends, I would just lose them over time.

Shadow.'

"What are you doing?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw Shadow glaring at me from the doorway. He looked fierce with his eyes glowing, and I noticed two small fangs in his menacing snarl for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Shadow. I couldn't help myself. But you can make friends. We can be friends. You don't have to feel alone." I said. Shadow shook his head "And…what happened to Maria?"

"None of your business!" Shadow suddenly snapped at me. I noticed tears in his eyes as he snatched the book and stormed out the room, thwacking me in the head in the process.

Later at dinner, Shadow quickly fixed his plate and walked off to eat in his room again. Before he could leave, though, my father stopped him.

"Shadow, why don't you eat with us tonight?" he offered.

"Yes, Master Robotnik." The Mobian murmured, walking to the table. He sat all the way on the other end of the table, which was quite long, with Bokkun a few chairs away. The little messenger chao scooted over a seat. Shadow looked at him, a little surprised, and scooted over a seat. They repeated this until Shadow was sitting next to me, with Bokkun acting as a wall, keeping him there. Shadow just glared at both of us and wouldn't look at anyone while he ate his dinner.

There was an awkward silence as everyone ate. Then James cleared his throat and broke the stillness.

"So…have you found anything interesting in your research?" he asked Dad.

"Actually, as of now, I have found two very interesting Mobians. One is a chameleon that is part of a detective team called Team Chaotix. He is a trained ninja, can turn invisible, and grant wishes. Another member, an armadillo, is super strong. Possibly even stronger than Shadow." At that, Shadow looked up from his cashew chicken, bewilderment dancing across his eyes.

"Stronger than me?!" he asked.

"Possibly…according to their website, he can lift a pile of cars with his pinkie."

"I've never tried lifting a car. I could probably knock it aside with Chaos Blast, though."

"So, Shadow, tell us about yourself. What happened in your life before we met you?" the dark hedgehog tensed at Mark's suggestion.

"I don't like to talk about it." He muttered

"Why not?"

"Because my only friend died. If I seem unsocial, that would be why."

"Oh, that's tough." James said

"You don't know the half of it."

Yayz! It's done! Well, I know I made Shadow OOC, but...I think this s what might happen if Shadow was around kids when he first woke up again.

So there's Maria, Elise, and Molly. Who's next? (If Chris doesn't count, 'cause he's a guy...)

Adios and check out my profile!