Chapter 1: Back to the ARK

A/N: Here's Chapter 1 of The Secret of the ARK everybody! :D

I uploaded this one so people don't only have to read Shadow's past history. Ya'll need something fresh. :)

But yeah, I had a lot of fun writing this, and I am loving my own work right now!

Enjoy the chapter, and please review and tell me what you think. It really helps me to want to continue it.

I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters here! They are sole properties of SEGA and Sonic Team.

Six months after the battle with the dreaded Lyric, the Earth seemed to be back to normal for the most part. However, in outer space the situation was completely different.

Onboard the Space Colony ARK, there were sounds and vibrations of explosions, and you could see the wreckage of an intense battle that was taking place that very minute. Two individuals sped by through the hallway, with another individual chasing after them.

"Come on!" One of the individuals said as he ran like the wind. "We gotta lose Met-Butt back there!" He was a blue hedgehog wearing nothing but his gloves and shoes. The person he was talking to was a black and red hedgehog who was dressed in the same fashion.

"If you didn't trip over that trash can he wouldn't have found us!" He growled in a deep voice.

The blue hedgehog laughed nervously. "Come on Shads." He said as he turned around and started running backwards, looking at their attacker. "Where's your sense of adventure!?"

"Probably back in the control room." The black hedgehog muttered under his breath as he jerked to the left, narrowly avoiding a missile that was shot from behind.

Sonic sighed as he stopped suddenly. "Shads, keep him busy!" The blue hedgehog curled up in a ball and began to spin in place.

"Got it!" Shadow jumped at the wall and rebounded off, clashing into their attacker, knocking him to the ground.

"Is that all you got!?" Their attacker asked in a deep, metallic voice. He attempted to punch Shadow, but the black hedgehog simply teleported just out of range. He continued to do so as Sonic charged up. "Stop moving you pest!" The robot hissed as it thrust at Shadow yet again, only for Shadow to grab its arm and throw it to the ground.

"You ready yet Faker!?" Shadow asked impatiently. While he slightly enjoyed beating up the blue robotic hedgehog, he was not in the mood to spend his whole day doing so.

"Yep!" Sonic began glowing bright blue as blue orbs began to surround him. "Outta the way!" He shouted as he flung himself at the metal hedgehog at speeds so fast Shadow was forced to face-plant the ground to avoid getting hit. The attack went right through the robot, and flung it through the wall. "Well," Sonic said, standing up and dusting himself off. "That was fun."

Shadow growled as he stood up. "Next time give me a better warning!" He snapped angrily.

Sonic chuckled. "Alright. Now let's get that Chaos Emerald and get out of here."

Shadow nodded, and the two of them sped down the hallway. After a couple of minutes they reached a large room with several containment devices, each of them empty. The room was eerily lighted by a few lights that occasionally flickered.

"Whoa…" Sonic shuddered as the two hedgehogs walked into the room. "This place is kinda spooky."

Shadow shook his head in disapproval as he walked to one of the desks in the far corner of the room. "Let's just find that Chaos Emerald." He said as he opened and closed the different drawers in the desk.

Sonic nodded as he followed suit to another desk. But as he opened a drawer his elbow hit something that sent a surge of pain through his arm. "Youch!" Sonic exclaimed, jumping in surprise.

Shadow looked at Sonic with a strange look. "What is it?"

"Something just shocked me." Sonic said as Shadow sighed. Apparently Shadow was taking this seriously.

Sonic looked at where his elbow was at, and saw a strange button on the side of the desk. Hmm, Sonic thought to himself. Strange button plus eerily lit room plus me getting zapped…I'm pushing it. He pushed the button and the entire ARK began to shake violently.

"Sonic!" Shadow shouted angrily, glaring at the blue hedgehog while trying to keep his balance. "What the hell did you just do!?"

"I just pushed a button!" Sonic shouted back over the noise of everything breaking and shaking. After what seemed like forever…which was actually only three minutes…the ARK stopped shaking.

"Whew!" Sonic said, letting go of the chair he had hung to. "That was unexpected!"

Shadow glared angrily at Sonic. "If our mission wasn't dangerous enough from Metal Sonic, you HAD to go around pushing buttons!?"

Sonic shrugged. "Sorry Shads."

Shadow was about to say something when there was a strange noise. Shadow and Sonic both instinctively got into a fighting position. To the two hedgehog's surprise the far wall began shaking, and after a minute moved to the left, revealing a secret passage.

Sonic let out a whistle. "That's interesting!" He walked to the passage and peered inside. "It's dark too!" He said, his voice echoing loudly.

Shadow walked right past Sonic with a flashlight he had brought with him just in case. Sonic followed the black hedgehog into the passage.

"Man," Sonic whistled again. "This place is dark!" His voice echoed several times in the dark, narrow passage.

"Hmm…" Shadow looked around him as the two walked through the passage. On the walls were depictions of what appeared to be a hedgehog fighting a strange creature, but he couldn't identify what it was. Shadow shrugged as he continued walking, and stopped only when Sonic exclaimed behind him.

"Hey Shads!" Sonic exclaimed, getting the black hedgehog's attention. "You should look at this!"

Shadow turned around and walked back to Sonic. "What is it?" He groaned, thinking that Sonic probably saw a rat or something. What he saw surprised even him: There was a large metal door down a hidden hallway.

"Someone certainly had a lot of time on his hands!" Sonic exclaimed, walking to the door and rubbing his hands on it. "This door's solid steel." He knocked on the door and stepped back in surprise. "And it feels like it is several feet thick!"

"Hmph," Shadow grunted as he walked to the door and examined it. It certainly was very strong, and had a strange lock on it. On the door itself there were strange markings.

"Well," Sonic said smiling to Shadow. "Let's go in."

Shadow nodded, and despite the door being incredibly strong, a few well-aimed kicks by the two hedgehogs brought it down. The two walked into the room and looked around in surprise.

The room was very dimly lit, the only light coming from the corner of the room. All across the room were papers sprawled out on the ground, and broken pieces of glass were everywhere.

"Man," Sonic grumbled as he stepped around the glass. "You'd think this place would be cleaned up better." He bent down and picked up a red jewel that was lying in the corner, which was where the light was coming from. "Hey Shads!" He exclaimed, holding up the jewel. "Found the Chaos Emerald! Let's get out of here."

Shadow didn't say anything, but instead looked at the middle of the room with a strange expression. In the middle of the room was a large stasis unit that had apparently been used not long before. Surrounding it was several pieces of glass, which came from the broken unit.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked, walking to Shadow with a concerned expression on his face. "'Sup?"

Shadow turned to Sonic with a strange expression on his face. "I'm ready." He said quickly. "Let's go."

Sonic nodded. "All right." The blue hedgehog walked out of the room as Shadow looked back at the piece of paper that was hanging on the last piece of glass still standing.

"It's impossible…" He muttered to himself. "It simply can't be…"

"Yo Shads!" Sonic called from the other room. "You coming or what?"

Shadow quickly turned around. "Yes." He said. He looked back at the paper and shook his head. He then turned back to the door and walked to Sonic. "You ready?"

Sonic nodded, and the two held their Chaos Emeralds. "Chaos Control!" There was a bright light as the two hedgehogs vanished from the ARK. The room became dark once again, but a strange light flickered above the stasis unit for a split-second, which had five letters written in bold, red letters: M-A-R-I-A.

..

..

To be continued...

A/N: So there you go! Chapter 1 of this new fanfic! :D

I had a lot of fun writing in Sonic's and Shadow's personalities. And writing in the scene where Shadow face-planted the ground actually made me laugh out loud. XD

So, with this fanfic I am trying to be as descriptive as possible, which is new compared to my older fanfics. I think I'm doing an OK job, but maybe you guys can give me hints?

So anyway, since the Space Colony ARK was over 50 years old, it'd make sense that it had secret passages that not even Shadow knew about. And what about those drawings on the wall? Are they a foreshadowing of some sort? Hmm...

And I'm sorry, but I actually had a chill run down my spine when I did the very last part with Maria's name on the paper. Speaking of which: What does that mean? Why is her name written there of all places? You'll have to wait to find out. XD

So that's just about it. Thank you all for reading this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think, and I will update soon. Peace out! (Or should I have said Chaos Control?)