All right, and we are back with another chapter! I feel kinda lucky: I expected this to be a little harder to write, but I actually had an easier time with it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy; feel free to rate and review!
Chapter 9: Larger than Outer Space
When May awoke the next morning, she looked around and was somewhat disappointed to find herself alone. Shadow must have left when I fell asleep she sighed. "Oh, well. He probably has his own business to attend to." She got up and rummaged through her fanny pack, hoping to find that chocolate snack she'd saved.
What she found instead was the ribbon half she had reclaimed back in Team Rocket's hideout. She held it in the palm of her hand, just staring at it for the longest time, forgetting everything around her as she thought of this ribbon...and the one who held the other half.
He took just about everything away from me: my dignity, my vanity, my hope… she recalled her words to Shadow the night before on what that monster had done to her. His heinous actions had left her in a state of despair, but now she felt one thread of hope still keeping a hold on her heart.
"I was wrong," she muttered to herself, slowly standing up as she spoke. "They can take away my dreams...they can take away my dignity...they can take away the sun in the sky...hell, they can take away the very air that I breathe."
She was standing on her own two feet now, her hand holding the ribbon half tightly over her heart, a new fire burning in her eyes. "But they can never take away my hope...or my faith...or my love." She strapped her fanny pack on, ready to go. "Hang on, Ash. Stay strong, Shadow. I'm coming."
Shadow looked around curiously. Chaos Control had taken him to what appeared to be a small hangar. Everything was silent, save for the sounds you'd expect to come from a place where jets take off. For the hedgehog's churning mind, it was somewhat relieving.
Then the sound of an engine broke that silence. He turned towards it and saw a plump aircraft land. The landing ramp lowered, and two figures came out: a blue hedgehog and a human with wild raven hair and a red cap containing it. A yellow rodent-like creature sat on his shoulder. They were smiling.
"What's up, Shadow?" the blue hedgehog waved.
Shadow turned away, slightly annoyed. "What do you want?"
"Nice to see you, too," the hedgehog retorted similarly.
He turned back, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"Those black aliens are heading up to the Space Colony ARK," the human explained. His voice sounded like gravel, but it resounded with warmth. "We're gonna follow them and see what they're up to."
"Pi Pikachu!" his companion agreed.
Shadow turned away slightly, his eyes pulling out of focus. "The...ARK?" he repeated, more to himself than to them. Other than May's kindness, this had touched his heart more than anything he'd discovered since this whole mess began.
"There's always room for one more," the human smiled warmly. "We could really use your help. What do you say?"
Shadow thought for a moment, then turned and walked towards them with a brief nod. His companions looked at each other, grinned, and followed him back onto the ship. The landing ramp was raised, and the ship took off.
"What do you think they're doing on the ARK?" Sonic asked, a frown on his face.
"I honestly have no clue," Ash replied, fidgeting with something in his hands. "To be honest, I'm not super worried about that. Team Rocket's got control of it, and they're not going to let those monsters in without a fight."
Sonic shrugged and looked towards a glowing light to their left. "What about that comet?"
Ash followed his gaze and shook his head. "Now that's a puzzle. I don't know why it's come back after only a few years, but I fail to see any conceivable way that they could be involved with its reappearance. The only way to move something so massive would be with Chaos Control. With the Chaos Emeralds here with us, there's no way they could've pulled that."
"Well, they are aliens. Maybe they have their own energy sources."
"They are not aliens," Ash retorted. Sonic looked at him, puzzled. "Their weapons are exact replicas of weapons I've seen used by other villains I once faced. The odds of aliens from outer space having the exact same weapons as a criminal organization on our world are a million to one." He looked back at the comet. "Wherever they came from, whatever they are...they're not from another world."
"So...you're not worried about the comet?" Sonic asked slowly.
"Oh, I'm worried, all right," Ash assured him. "But I'm not super worried; I see no way in which they could be involved with its reappearance."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried at all?"
Ash turned to look him, his face twisting into one that made it clear that something panged him inside. "Yes. Yes, I am."
"What about?"
He looked down a moment at his hands, slowly opening them. When they were open, he looked back at the blue hedgehog, a pained expression on his face. Sonic walked over and looked at his open hands and saw half of a ribbon, pink in color with white on the edges. A neat and polished half of a medal that resembled the sun adorned it.
"Oh," was all Sonic could whisper.
"Pika," Pikachu sighed sadly.
Shadow looked out the window at the looming Space Colony. Its appearance was slightly terrifying to some, but to him it seemed as though he was returning home for the first time in years.
"Home?" he whispered to himself. "What about this place says home? There's nothing homely about it. It looks completely abandoned, and yet…"
He paused as he felt the four Chaos Emeralds pulsate around him with positive energy. He looked back towards the ARK and raised an eyebrow. "There's an emerald somewhere on there," he smiled slightly, though it didn't last as he looked ticked at the memory of what he went through for the last emerald flew through his head. "It better not be as hard as the last one. I don't mind a challenge, but that was stupid. Knocked out and nearly strangled...all for that damn fourth Chaos Emerald!"
He huffed in irritation as he calmed down, the homely thoughts of the ARK pervading his mind once again. "This feeling...this feeling that I'm home...it makes no sense. This place is so familiar to me...my goodness: I'm remembering all the intricate passages and delicacies and whatnot! How the hell can I not remember anything else and yet know this place inside and out?!" He closed his eyes, confused. "Why? Why is this place so…?"
Then his eyes shot open as a gate in his mind, hitherto closed, suddenly opened again. "This is...where I…"
His eyes closed again as several images flashed through his mind in a matter of seconds: a young, lovely blonde with sky-blue eyes, running around with a black hedgehog. They were playing as though they didn't have a care in the world. Then he saw them running again through the same passage, this time with fear written all over their face while men in black chased them. Then he saw the blonde girl collapsing to the ground, hand on her side, yet she was somehow smiling. The black hedgehog stared at her in horror through a glass wall.
Shadow's eyes opened quickly as he realized what he had seen. "That was...Maria?..." The last image reappeared. "She...died?" His eyes closed again, and he felt water bud on the sides. "Why does it...matter so much to me?" he choked. "I don't...even...remember her!"
Another image flashed through his mind in answer to his question: this time, the black hedgehog, now glowing bright silver, was falling through the atmosphere, watching the Space Colony ARK fade from his view, and then...nothing.
His eyes opened. Maria...this is what you wanted, wasn't it? Yes...this is the promise I made to you…
"Those words," he muttered. "They ring in my mind, and...I'm the one who speaks?"
"Hey, Shadow!"
Shadow jolted as the voice of the blue hedgehog snapped him out of his deep thoughts and finally brought him back to reality. "What?"
"Our sensors have detected a Chaos Emerald on the ARK!" Sonic smiled. "We're starting to think that the aliens are after it, so we're going to blaze on through and get it, first!"
Shadow's eyes widened. If the aliens got it, he would have to deal with the Distortion Master again, and he was not up for that.
"What do you say that while we're at it, we have a little fun and race? Winner takes all! You up for this, Shadow?" He didn't wait for an answer and dashed out. Shadow turned towards the ARK, a place he thought of as home, and dashed out after Sonic. This was a race he was not willing to lose.
And with that, I'd like to make a small announcement. The day I'm writing this is the last day of vacation I have before I have to go back to school. I'm going to be swamped this semester, so unfortunately that means I won't be able to update this story for a while. :(
I expect to be back before the month of May ends. Don't worry: I will finish this story, even if I'm not in the mood for it when that time comes. I might be able to update before May comes around, but don't expect anything until May.
Thanks for your support!
