By Breech Loader
Me: Yay! Chapter 2! You know, once again I forgot to say that I don't own Sonic Characters. That's Sonic Team's job. But I do own Project Mirage. And those nameless scientists. So if I own those nameless scientists, that means I own all un-named scientists! I am all powerful!!! Gimmie money if you use scientists in your fanfiction! Haha!!!
Just kidding. Something else I forgot to say though, is that I got the idea for this fanfic agest and ages ago off a TMNT fanfic. I can't remember what it was called or who it was by, but I feel I should say SOMETHING.
Chapter 2: Some Time Later...
Pain.
Not raw, screaming pain like I've known before. Just flat, mind-numbing, eternal...
Pain.
It's all I've known since what feels like forever. But it's not the only thing I've known. I couldn't think these thoughts otherwise. I remember… I have to remember…
Inside, the tube is so cold that it hurts, but I'd rather be in it than outside; they haven't taken me out unless they wanted to run tests... and the tests always amount to more pain.
I try to think. Try to collect my thoughts. Try to remember what I've seen and hard over the last few months since they woke me up again... It's always so hard to think...
I remember some sort of gem. So powerful, but I could control its chaos. A Chaos Emerald. I remember Maria.
Maria? Who are you? And why did you have to die? I have to remember, I have to remember her…
She was beautiful, with her big, blue eyes and her golden hair… I remember that I loved her… but I don't remember why or how. And I still don't remember why she had to die.
Who are the others I remember? The bat, and the fat old man, and most of all that stupid, stupid blue hedgehog... why do I remember them? I knew them... in a life outside this life, a life where I was more than this, more than these humans could ever hope to be... and I still am…
I am Shadow.
Now I listen. Listen to everything for clue to who I am, and where I came from.
"We repaired the gloves and shoes. The material was easy enough, but they had some sort of strange power source contained in the rings..."
Gloves? Shoes? Rings? Power Rings?
"They looked like decoration but they actually power the shoes. It took a devil of a time replicating them."
Replicating them? Why?
"He's reacting well to the nutrients."
"What about the other ones?"
Other ones? I keep my eyes shut.
"It sure wasn't easy to get that female black panther."
"It'll be worth it if it works out."
"I still can't believe they proved to be compatible."
"They were horrible freaks, yes. Three more of the kittens died last night. But we've still got this hedgehog in case we run out, and three other kittens as well to work with."
Kittens? That doesn't sound good. Think. Think harder. Remember more. Yeah, there were needles... and music. Memories are coming easier now. Nasty memories. There were needles a long time ago, when I was someone else...
"Do you think we'll ever get what we want?"
"Can't tell until they're ready and we test them."
"It took us almost three years to get this far. We can't turn back now. If we could just combine them..."
"What if it dies?"
"That's the funny thing, you know? It hasn't aged a day since we found it."
Three years?! I've been here for three fucking years?! God… it's like the nightmare's beginning all over again. But three years… I'm older than three years. I wasn't born here… but somebody was.
Sperm samples, a female panther, compatibility, sexual maturity… the others. My mind's working furiously and I really don't like the answers it's coming up with… but I'm remembering more…
I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform. And I am immortal.
My mind returns to the present. To the wires. To the tubes. To the pain.
"Hey, its brain activity is perking up! It's waking!"
"It's waking too early! Give it a dose of Thorazine!"
Sleep smothers me again.
Am I awake? Am I even alive? How long is it since I was last aware of anything?
"Okay, open the tube."
God but I hate those voices. The liquid drains from the tube. I open my eyes. Suddenly I realise I'm naked. No shoes, no gloves... I feel wrong without them. After a few moments I press up against the glass, looking at the humans outside it. How do I know they're humans? They're wearing lab coats. How do I know they're lab coats? I start to beat my hands against the glass.
"Great! Project Shadow is alive and feisty!"
"Too fiesty if you ask me. I say we start training now."
I watch as one of them presses a red button. A shock - agonising pain - races through my body. I scream, and scream, and scream, and it seems that the voice in my head is screaming with me. The pain stops as suddenly as it started, and I slump to the floor, leaning against the glass, breathing hard.
"Wow, did you see that?"
"The others reacted!"
"Could be a coincidence. Try it again."
Another shock goes through me. The same screaming pain, the other voice screaming with me, not adding to my pain, just there. Once the pain stops, I wait for another shock, but it doesn't come.
"Okay. Now for Project Mirage in the next room. Let's see how they react."
"I'd say it'll be pretty similar, if earlier tests are anything to go by."
One of the humans goes out of the room. There's a strange feeling of sleepiness, then my mind screams, so I do too. When I finish screaming, the humans are clapping and cheering outside the tube. They're actually happy that I'm in pain, the bitches...
The other human comes in, "They're feisty, like that one."
That one. What do they think I am, some sort of robot? Well of course. Give something a gender; act like it's got any feelings at all, and soon you start getting attached to it. Bastards.
Be smart. Act stupid. Refrain from pulling out their lungs.
"Open Project Shadow's tube."
It slides open. The world isn't distorted any more. Before I can get used to it, someone puts some restraints on me, and someone else shocks me with something like a cattle prod. I scream and fall to my knees, looking up at the three humans properly for the first time. Two men and a woman, in white lab coats.
I clutch the floor. Hot pain... all through me. Spending so much time in a nutrient bath mean that now even the touch of the air is abrasive. And I'm so damn weak...
"Put it in the big cage. We can sort out its reactions to the other ones in a couple of days - we have to get it trained first."
Trained? That doesn't sound good.
It's a couple of days later. The training was infuriating. Pretending to be stupid is the second hardest thing I've ever done, right after being nice to these bastards, but if I don't pretend to be stupid and nice I'll never see the other ones.
And they've put me in the restraints again. It's driving me crazy. I feel like a fucking dog.
Okay… so they're leading me into another room. This one's got a big cage in it. Balls, building blocks, kiddy toys… but I'm more interested in the kittens.
Funny, they don't look much like cats. They look… kinda like me. They've got red highlights in all the expected places, and quills, and long tails. I can see letters painted on their backs in white. There's three of them, two boys and a girl. The boys are playing in the corner with the bricks, carrying out the all-important task of building them up and knocking them down. The girl though, she's already seen me. She half runs, half crawls over to me, and there's a feeling…
Daddy!
Daddy? Yes, of course… I reach through the bars and pick her up, hugging her. How does she know I'm her daddy?
Because you thought so, Daddy!
Okay, this is getting freaky… I look into her eyes and try to think loud thoughts, Can you read my mind?
Yes! I know all your thoughts, Daddy!
What about them? I think about my sons.
They are no fun. Their thoughts aren't like yours, Daddy.
I feel uncomfortable with 'daddy'. Call me Shadow.
Okay, Shadow!
I'm suddenly aware of the humans talking behind us.
"Strange interaction there. Think he considers her a potential mate?"
Get your minds out of the gutter, boneheads… I put her down.
I wish I could be in there with them though… wish I could set them free… they deserve better than this…
End of Chapter 2!
Me: Bitchin'! Go, me! Go, Shadow! I'm kinda disappointed that there's only one review, you know. So much for stories getting more attention on I'd probably have three or four reviews if I'd stuck to Still, I should thank Cardinel for the review. But discussing pairings... that would kinda spoil it.