I began to rock back and forth on the spot and groan words to myself.

"Maria… please… come here and save me. I know you're alive, all you need to do is save me now… Gerald's gone… there's no hope…" I mumbled and shut my eyes tight. "Maria… please… Maria…" I groaned on. The tears began to fall heavily. "Maria, I need you… more than ever now."

I really had made another turn towards insanity. Even if Maria had survived the shot, she couldn't come to Prison Island and save me. I was praying for the impossible. I must have been left to babble to myself for a long time before my attention was caught by the leader of those murderers.

"PROJECT Shadow… I have something to give you!" He yelled. I lifted my head and looked up to the window. Something was thrown inside. I leaned forward and crawled an inch or two over to it. It was a white piece of card with nothing on it. I cautiously lifted my hand to flip it over.

I wish I hadn't flipped it over. What happened to me next was the turning point.

"Stop talking about that Maria girl of yours… she's gone," he said.

I screamed out frantically when I saw the image on the other side of the card. I fell back against the wall and bawled out in agony. I put my hands to my head and tugged at my quills. I banged my head against the wall several times as I sobbed and shrieked. My head hurt too much… the image was so disturbing, I wanted to get it out of my mind. I clawed and grabbed at the quills on my head and shook it as hard as I could. The image wouldn't go.

I lifted my head to point at the ceiling and yelled at the top of my voice.

"MARIA!"

My throat burned when I finished screaming. I tried again, but my words were caught in my throat by my need to cry. I fell to my knees and sobbed. That last shed of hope left me… and I had nothing left to hold onto. Nothing to fight for. It was only me left… no one could save me. I wouldn't save myself, because if I did, I would have no one to return to. All of my friends and family were… dead.

I glanced at the paper again. The piece of card was a photo of Maria. She was… dead on the floor. With blood all over her torso. The beautiful dress she wore was ruined… and more importantly… the owner of the dress was ruined too. This was the proof I needed to get those foolish thoughts out of my head.

"You're so pathetic…" the man said and I heard his footsteps get quieter and quieter. He was gone, and he'd left me with that photo.

It felt like my head was spinning. Probably because I'd banged it against the wall so many times and shook it like a rattle for a full minute. But partly due to the fact that I was in despair and my mind couldn't take it. I was in emotional agony.

I fell forward onto my stomach and curled up my body to comfortably fit in the little space I had on the freezing cold metallic floor. The photo was right there by my face, a look down put the image right before my eyes. I sobbed even harder. Shaking as a cried, I covered the bottom half of the photo with my hand to hide Maria's blood stained body and dress. Only her face showed now… and it looked peaceful. She was asleep. And I would soon follow.

"G-goodnight… M-Maria…" I sobbed and fell into unconsciousness.

So many voices flowed through my mind. Memories were corrupting in my head. And twisted more and more.

"For all of the people on that planet, Shadow. Help them and bring peace,"

"For all of the people on that planet, Shadow. Help them and destroy GUN."

"For me Shadow, destroy all of the people on that planet."

"Destroy the planet, Shadow. For me."

"I need revenge Shadow. Destroy the planet."

Maria's were mixed in my mind from a plea for peace to a request for revenge. Over and over again her demands changed like a game of Chinese whispers. Her original words were forgotten and her legacy tainted.

Yes, Maria, I thought. I promise you… revenge!

"I created you to do good, Shadow. I need you to help the human race to develop."

"I created you to do your best, Shadow. I need you to help me to destroy the human race."

"I created you to destroy, Shadow. I need you to destroy the human race."

"Destroy them, I created you to destroy them. You must destroy them!"

Gerald's words were also changed. Thinking back to it all now, I feel ashamed. I let my mind become ill and it caused me to do so many awful things. I damaged buildings and attempted to destroy the planet because of false memories. And, what if I were captured and questioned? What would I have said? That Maria and Gerald told me to do it? I would have tainted their images! Maria and Gerald are good, and none of them would ever ask for me to even hurt a fly, let alone destroy the planet.

If it weren't for that pink hedgehog I may have never realised the truth. And if I'd never gotten amnesia the original truth and how it changed would never have come back to me either.

I turned insane overnight and it was all GUN's fault. I would have co-operated if they had taken me away peacefully and let everyone live. All of the destruction that I caused after my release was their fault; they brought it all upon themselves. They made me into the monster that I am today. The callous monster that doesn't feel a speck of guilt when he kills; the one who would have destroyed the whole planet and enjoyed it. I know I'm wrong in the head… but it's not my fault. And I'm able to admit that I 'need help,' so I'm not completely broken, right?

I heard the door to my cell open so I woke up. My eyes snapped open. My brain filled with new information. I only had a new objective: destroy the human race. It seemed as if they all deserved it at the time. After what the humans had done to me, they needed to be taught a lesson. Not being a human myself, I assumed that all humans were the same. I know differently now. There are just a few evil souls that make the whole race look bad, when the majority are good. That's not how I saw it at the time.

I rose to my feet and conjured up all of the power that I could. This was it. For Maria… and for Gerald. I would destroy them all, or die trying.

"Chaos… SPEAR!"

Lucy Labrador