Bam! A quick update! Couldn't help myself :)
Sorta like a filler chappie, so the next one will be sooooo much better!
Also, thanks to WingedArcher1 for reviewing every chapter so far. Love your stories, dude!
The sun was still rising when a young rabbit walked through Mystic Ruins.
Cream straightened out her sundress, knocking on the door to Tail's lab. Ever since he built one to replace his workshop, she often referenced it to Jimmy Neutron. Her orange hair was in soft waves.
She pressed the red buzzer.
Tails looked at the security screen, smiling when he saw who was standing out there. He pressed the green button by his head to respond.
"Hey, Cream! Glad you could make it," his voice came from the speaker above the buzzer. "Brace yourself."
Before Cream could ask, the ground disappeared from below her, and she fell down into the dark while screaming. Her scream of terror soon turned to giggling as she slid down the blue slide. There were a few drops, tilts, and curves, until finally she stopped at an opening.
Tails, who was wearing a white lab coat as well as casual clothes underneath, had an amused look on his face as he made his way over to her.
"Wow, is that new?" Cream asked, taking his outstretched hand and got to her feet.
"Kinda," Tails said, lacing her fingers as he led the way over to the operating table. "Sorry I made you come over so early."
"You sounded serious over the phone, so I came as soon as I could. What's-?" She paused as she saw Maria's unconscious body laying there.
"I'll explain later," Tails told her, taking a see-through light blue box out of his coat; it was new technology, like carrying around computer screens and other stuff that his friends would most likely never understand. He unfolded it until it was arms-length, observing Maria's data. He put it up against the wall, letting it float there. "Could you put Maria in that dress?"
Cream saw a pale blue exam gown, draped over the edge of the operating table. After putting on her own lab coat, she got right to work.
SH
Cream hadn't even been in there for ten minutes, and Shadow came in quietly with Charmy right behind him.
"How is she?" Shadow asked with almost no emotion, standing next to Maria's head. Even though he kept his calm on the exterior, Tails could see that he was having a lack of patience. His clothing was, as always, dark. And today was no different. He wore a dark grey short-sleeved shirt, leaving it open and unbuttoned, a black graphic tee, black jeans, and all-black sneakers. Charmy, on the other hand, wore a black graphic tank top with a comic strip about Garfield on it, yellow skinny jeans, and black and yellow sneakers.
"Hard to tell," Tails said, expanding the screens all around the room and studied them. "Her vitals seem fine...though her heart rate is a little too low for my liking..."
Shadow pulled up a chair and sat down, taking Maria's hand in his. It worried him that she lacked some warmth.
"According to my calculations, however, she should wake soon," Tails said to him in a reassuring tone.
"And the DNA?"
"She's identified as Maria Robotnik for sure...-"
"Wait a minute-did you say Robotnik?" Charmy interjected.
"Yes, she's technically Dr. Eggman's older cousin, I tracked down her family tree," Tails continued, pulling up the screen and pointed for everyone to see. "See there? That's Gerald Robotnik, Maria and Eggman's grandfather. There's Maria...Her parents...Eggman's parents, then Eggman himself..." Tails sighed. "Yep. The Robotnik bloodline."
"That doesn't explain why she turned into a hedgehog when we came in contact with each other..." Shadow murmured.
"I have a theory," Tails said, and Shadow met his gaze. "You said that some form of energy explosion happened, right?" When Shadow nodded, he continued on. "I've done some research, but that didn't really help much, so I went with my own hypothesis..."
"Which is...?" Shadow pressed.
"Since she was dead, and you're alive, she was able to grab onto a life source. This doesn't just happen, because mostly demons are able to attach to any human. The thing is, you're not human-technically a Mobian. You already kept Maria alive when you were created because you're The Ultimate Lifeform. You were the only thing that helped her live, because originally she was supposed to die at a much younger age."
"So when your energies collided, you were able to cure her illness by transforming her into a hedgehog!" Cream finished, looking at Tails with bright eyes.
"That's right." Tails smiled down at her.
Shadow looked down at Maria, gripping her hand a little tighter. She was so pale...it scared him. And he rarely got scared.
"I...did this to her?"
Tails nodded.
"Take Tails' word for it," came the blue blur's voice before he came in the room, and it was no surprise that Amy was with him too. "He's always right 99.9 percent of the time."
"Thanks, buddy," Tails said to him, and Sonic smiled at his best friend.
"How many people did you tell about this?" Shadow demanded through gritted teeth, and Tails took a step back from the dark hedgehog's glare.
"Hey, easy..." Amy said, holding up her hands. "Just us. Cream called me and told me everything. Sonic and I ran into each other on my way down here."
"Literally," Sonic added, and Amy giggled a little.
Shadow sighed, nodding curtly.
Sonic and Amy stood on either side of Maria's legs.
"So..." Amy murmured quietly, thoughtful. "This is her..." Wow. She's pretty!
"Hmm. Anybody else notice she has human hair instead of quills, like Cream?" Sonic noted.
"Cream's a rabbit, but I see your point there, Sonic," Tails said. "I'm guessing she inherited some of her human traits during her transition."
A soft sound erupted from Maria's throat, making everyone fall silent; Shadow leaned forward some more, observing Maria's face.
"Maria?" he asked, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. "Maria, can you hear me?"
Maria's response was incoherent, her lips barely parting.
Shadow looked at Tails as he came over, lifting Maria's wrist to feel her pulse.
"Pulse is stronger..." Tails muttered, and he turned around to type it down.
Maria's eyes slowly opened. Her groan cracked in places as she blinked a few times so her eyes could focus in on her surroundings. She saw a cream colored rabbit, a yellow fox with two tails, a bee, a pink hedgehog, and a blue hedgehog that looked so much like Shadow...
Shadow...?
Her eyes fixed on his, barely being able to turn her head.
"Sha...dow?" She croaked.
"You're okay, Maria. Everything is fine," Shadow replied, sighing in relief.
"I'm...not dead?"
"No, you're not dead." And thank goodness for that. "Do you think you can sit up?"
Maria managed a nod, making a weak attempt to heave herself forward. Seeing that she was having some slight difficulty, Shadow wrapped his free arm around her back and gently pulled her up in a sitting position.
Her eyes settled on Tails.
"You..." she said, her voice still raspy. "You're the guy from earlier. You..."
"Yes, I'm here to help you," Tails said to her. "You must have been in and out of consciousness."
Maria just continued to stare at him.
"Hello, Maria," Cream said oh-so-friendly, and the blonde looked at her. "My name is Cream, and this is Charmy, Amy, and Sonic." As she pointed and introduced, each person waved and/or said hello. "We are all friends of Shadow, and we're here to help."
"Is there something...wrong with me?" Maria asked, now worried as she looked at Shadow, who shook his head.
"No, but I had to make sure," Tails informed. "It's safe to say that you're cured from NIDS."
Maria smiled.
"What's NIDS?" Charmy asked.
"Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. It's a rare, incurable, and fatal disease."
"But if it's incurable then-"
"Were you not listening to me and Cream five minutes ago? When Shadow turned Maria into a hedgehog, the transformation obviously gave her a new, healthy body."
"Oh, sorry. I kinda spaced out!"
Tails rolled his eyes.
"Your DNA has changed too, Shadow," Cream told him.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow said, arching an eyebrow.
"Well...compared to your DNA a year ago...it altered into something...different...Kinda hard to explain." She looked at Tails for confirmation.
"What she's trying to say is that ever since Maria returned, you lost your immortality," Tails said.
Shadow's eyes widened.
"Um...Okay."
"There have been signs of ageing for you anyway, but now you're offically mortal," Tails said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "No biggy."
"You make it sound so simple," Shadow grumbled.
"That's 'cuz it is." Tails grinned.
"Hey, um...guys?" Maria asked, and her stomach growled. "Can I get something to eat?"
"Hunger!" Tails exasperated, typing that down too. "That's what explains her fatigue!"
"She not only needs food..." Amy said. "She needs to go to the mall! You can't let her go out looking like that! This is a fashion emergency!"
"The...mall?" Maria questioned as Cream giggled and smiled, feeling automatically stupid.
What's a mall?
Vanilla was nice enough to bring deodorant, a toothbrush, and toothpaste for Maria to use, as well as unmentionables that Amy promised Maria she'll explain later. The elder rabbit drove the six of them to the mall, even though Sonic insisted that he could run instead. Charmy had decided to stay behind and fly around.
Maria yelped as Amy pulled her by the hand, racing into the huge mall with Cream giggling and nearly flying after them.
"C'mon, Maria!" Amy squealed. "The faster we get to the stores first, the faster we can get all the cool clothes!"
"Girls," Sonic and Tails said in unison, shaking their heads.
"Hmph," was Shadow's response.
The girls' first stop was one of many clothing stores. Maria had to admit that all of the outfits were cute, but a lot of light blues and other pastel colors definately caught her eye. Amy and Cream had her try on many shirts, skirts, and jeans to find out her size; apparently, she was a little smaller than Amy yet bigger than Cream.
The boys watched in amusement as Maria went back and forth between outfits, being thankful that they weren't a part of the female population.
And that was just the beginning.
They went to store after store, going from extremely girly and flirty, to more laidback outfits. Amy and Cream introduced Maria to makeup, and they got light shades for her to try later. Their friendliness and excitement soon rubbed off of Maria, and she felt more comfortable and happier.
The shoe shopping took absolutely forever, and the boys got impatient fast. When Sonic started to whine and complain, Amy threatened to summon her hammer, and he was pretty quiet after that.
And then Amy pulled Maria into Victoria's Secret, making Sonic, Tails, and Shadow halt in front of the entrance.
"Aren't you guys coming?" Cream asked them.
"No, we're good!" Tails and Sonic said in unison, shaking their heads quickly and stepping back, muzzles pink.
"You go on," Shadow said, turning around so Cream wouldn't see his muzzle warm up.
Cream shrugged and went inside.
"Did you ever wear bras when you were on the ARK, Maria?" Amy asked as Maria looked around.
"I did wear a training bra..." Maria admitted, observing the lacey undergarments. Her muzzle reddened. "Um...Amy? Do I have to wear...these?"
"You don't have to if you're not comfortable," Amy assured her, taking her hand and pulling her towards another set of bras and panties. They were more simple, made of cotton, and some even had polka dots on them. "Here, pick something you like, and then you can try it on."
"How will I know what size I am? I know nothing about this stuff!"
"Well, Tails said you're physically sixteen-you're my age and..." Amy studied Maria before observing herself. "You might be a C, like me, maybe a high B."
Maria just stared at her.
"Shouldn't we just get one of every size and...maybe some assistance?" Cream suggested as she approached. "I'm sure there's someone around..." She looked around.
"No, it's okay. I'll try a few..." Maria grabbed a light blue one, a royal blue one, then white, lavendar purple, and pink. "If I need help, then I'll let you guys know, okay?"
"We'll wait outside your dressing room!" Amy said, clapping her hands.
SH
Maria figured out that she was a 38B (She still wondered what the letters had to do with it), and got the white, light blue, and pink one, as well as many pairs of underwear. She actually went out the store wearing her white set.
Then Amy told her to change into an outfit she liked, going into a random girls' restroom. Maria chose a long-sleeved, white shirt that dropped off her right shoulder; it had a light blue peace sign on it. With that, she wore a flannel skirt and ballet flats of the same shade of blue.
Amy practially squealed, and Cream beamed at her as she emerged from the stall. From there, they gave her a little makeover, adding a light amount to her eyes and lips.
"Do you think I should cut my hair?" Maria wondered outloud. "It's a little..."
"Already ahead of you," Amy said, pulling out scissors. She cut a reasonable amount so that Maria's hair fell to her butt. Then she had a little fun with the blonde and added big loose curls.
When the girls finally emerged from the bathroom, they found the boys lounging on the random benches by the escalators.
"Took you long enough," Sonic said, and then he, Tails, and Shadow looked up.
Shadow's mouth dropped an inch as he stared at his timid friend. She had literally transformed from his pale, fragile best friend to a teenage girl within a couple of hours. She almost looked...kinda...
"Do I look okay?" Maria asked them.
"Yeah, you look great!" Sonic said.
"Totally worth the wait!" Tails smiled. "Don't you think, Shadow?"
Why is he bringing me into this?
Shadow looked down into his lap. "Yeah...you look...great. Ahem." He cleared his throat awkwardly, and saw Sonic, Tails, and Amy smirking at him out of the corner of his eye. "Can we go eat now?"