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Chapter 2- Out of this world…

In a normal situation, Shadow would tell himself to take deep breaths to keep himself from panicking. However, since he couldn't do that at the moment, the ebony hedgehog opened his ruby eyes to identify his surroundings only to find that he was looking through a substance that was faintly glowing a tinted blue-green color which surprisingly didn't hurt his eyes, given that the liquid wasn't water.

More than a little confused, Shadow glanced all around him before focusing on his own body when he couldn't see anything but a continuous darkness. Red irises just stared until his brain caught up to what he was seeing. When it did, he had to keep from gasping in shock, ultimately breathing in the substance he was currently floating in. Shadow's distress steadily rose when he saw many different thin tubes coming out of his body, one even coming out of his nose.

The Ultimate Lifeform's heart rate increased dramatically, making his body crave for more oxygen. Knowing that he was going to have to take a breath of air soon, Shadow hastily pulled the wires out, wincing at the small sting of pain each tug produced. Small droplets of blood came out in time with the tubes, mixing in with the liquid surrounding the hedgehog.

When all of the wires were taken out, Shadow braced himself for the last one, for that one he could feel all the way down his throat. Reaching up with a bare hand, the hedgehog grabbed the tube and pulled, closing his eyes tightly at the uncomfortable and slightly painful feeling. Shadow could feel the plastic as it made its way up his windpipe and finally out into the open. He scowled at it before letting it go, making it float in the substance.

Now free from the former imbedded wires, Shadow reached forward and ran his black hands across the glass of the container. Furrowing his brow, the Ultimate Lifeform clenched his right hand into a fist, brought it back, and punched the glass as hard as he could, earning himself a small crack that he could faintly see. He frowned, frustrated at the substance slowing him down and at the strong glass preventing him from escaping. Lungs starting to burn, Shadow punched it again, expanding the crack. With one more hit, the hedgehog broke the container and tumbled out onto the floor. He landed on his hands and knees, taking deep breaths to get the oxygen he desperately needed into his system.

Careful not to cut himself on the scattered shards, Shadow picked himself up, standing barefoot in a puddle of the unknown liquid. He frowned when he felt the slightly thick substance drip off of him. The hedgehog held up his hand to his face, but the darkness was so complete that he couldn't see it. It also didn't help any matters that his fur is mostly the same color. He perked his ears only to hear absolutely nothing that gave away any hints to where he was.

Sighing, Shadow dropped his hand down to his side and heard the liquid fall to the floor in a constant dripping rhythm. It was going to take a while to get dry at this rate. Taking his focus off how wet he felt, the Ultimate Lifeform squinted his eyes and attempted to look around the room of unknown size he was currently in. Nothing but darkness met him until he found a small blinking red light to his immediate left at his waist level. Shadow squatted down to get closer and made out the word 'empty' as it blinked on and off every second. He was curious to what it was, but he had to turn on a light somewhere so he could make out the mystery machine.

Straightening back up, Shadow shuffled across the cold metal floor wanting to reach some kind of wall, wincing when he felt sharp pinpricks of glass, but because he wasn't reckless, they weren't driven deep into his foot. The ebony hedgehog held his hands out in front of him as he took more steps forward. It was not long until his fingers brushed against a cool wall, metallic like the floor. Glad that he was closer to solving this mystery, Shadow turned and started walking, right hand on the wall, guiding him. The hedgehog continued until he hit a corner. Turning left at a 90 degree angle, he kept on going for a while until his fingers drifted over something that felt like a switch. Without hesitation, Shadow flipped it and hissed when a white light painfully entered his retinas.

Blinking a few times to get used to the new bright, ruby eyes roamed the now small room, lingering on the container their owner busted out of. A heavy feeling of déjà vu hit Shadow when he took in the broken cylinder now identified as a cryogenic tank. Shaking off those bad memories, the hedgehog continued his examination of the grey room, more suspicious now. He zeroed in on the still blinking light before walking over to it to give it a second examination. The light was on a small screen on the front of a medium-sized white box. There was something like a huge propane tank sitting on top of the box with one single word on it written in black: oxygen.

Putting together the puzzle pieces, Shadow took a step back from the container, glancing at the blinking 'empty' light, to the black 'oxygen', to the cryogenic tank. The large propane tank that had oxygen was now empty. He couldn't breathe suspended in the liquid. Shadow bit his lip, horribly confused. How long was he in there? How did he get in there in the first place?

Closing his eyes, the hedgehog thought about the events before he found himself floating in the container. He was fighting robots at Tail's house and won, then he was about to go inside to eat dinner, then he got hit on the back of the head with something hard. What knocked him out? A robot not counted for maybe?

The Ultimate Lifeform snapped his eyes open, frowning in anger. This was no doubt Eggman's doing. He made them think that he was defeated, but then…

Figuring that he was going to deal with the doctor later, Shadow looked around the room, searching for a way out. His eyes then zeroed in on the metallic door beside the light switch. The dark hedgehog stepped lightly until he wasn't in any danger of cuts on the soles of his feet. Standing in front of the door, Shadow was about to slide it open when something in the corner of the room caught his eye. Pausing, he turned his head and his eyes widened as a result.

Over there sitting against the wall were his gloves, shoes, and even his inhibitor rings.

Thinking that it was too good to be true, Shadow glared at the spot for a moment before making his way over there. He nudged one of the shoes, seeing if there was a trap hidden somewhere that would go off. When nothing of that sort happened, Shadow picked up one of the gloves, examined it, and slipped it on. After adjusting the fabric, he put on the other one before slipping on his hover shoes. He tested them out and they worked fine. Finally, Shadow put the rings on his wrists. Although this was good news, it was also a bit disconcerting for Shadow. Why would Eggman leave these in the same room he was being held in?

Having a bad feeling in his gut, the Ultimate Lifeform went back over to the door which opened quite easily. Barely any force was put into it. Shadow was about to step out, but there were cardboard boxes in his way. Frowning, the ebony hedgehog pushed on the stack of boxes and was mildly shocked at how heavy they were. The tower started to tilt and it wasn't before long that the containers fell to the ground, shattering whatever that was in the cardboard. Shadow, not caring about any of the doctor's stuff, stepped over the remaining box that was at the bottom of the stack.

This room wasn't lit up either, but the light poured in from the room Shadow just came from so he could see the area clearly. It was some kind of storage unit. It wasn't huge, maybe a little bigger than the previous room. There were boxes stacked all over the place; some were turned over, spilling its contents which included a hodgepodge of items. It went from screws and wrenches to different medical supplies. Not taking interest in Eggman's weird collection of things, Shadow focused on the second most interesting item in the room: the window.

What he saw brought ice to his veins.

Breath hitching, Shadow quickly went over to the glass plane, in shock at what he saw. Before him weren't grassy plains or towering mountains, snowy fields or swampy forests, open seas or dry deserts…

Shadow saw stars. Millions and millions of stars.

The Ultimate Lifeform stood there, staring out into space. He saw the earth so close and the sun many light years away, lighting up the galaxy. However beautiful the view was, Shadow was two seconds away from having a full-out panic attack.

There wasn't any way…He just couldn't be…!

Tearing his eyes away from the sight most people would love to see, the ebony hedgehog zoomed over to the storage room door. He slid the door open with more power than necessary, making a noisy thud echo throughout the structure. Shadow didn't care. He had more problems at the moment. Well, looking at the very familiar halls of his past, he only had one problem, but it was huge.

Shadow, by unknown means, was back on the Space Colony ARK.

A/N- If you're a bit confused, don't worry! There's going to be, more or less, an explanation next chapter to help some. Oh, and this isn't a time travel fic, just to let ya know.