Chapter Ten

Ai spoke up, "Just a reminder, the Doctor was on his way here. Should he claim Midnight as an ally... need I say more?"

Shadow calmed a little. "Well, at least he won't find the one that got away... for a few days at least. But Ai said there were FIVE pods in that room, not one. We'd better get those ones first."

"Midnight." I stated, feeling sour after his jab. "Our brother's name is Midnight."

"Very well then, MIDNIGHT will be "safe" for a few days. Let's check the other pods." He put his hand on my shoulder and teleported us back to the computer terminal. He took off his watch and set it on the terminal, saying, "Login and help Ai. We need to know how to open these pods in such a way that they don't come out like Midnight. Luna, plug in Ai."

"Proceeding, Shadow." Omega drones.

I set Ai on the terminal, and walked into the pod room. I didn't say anything, but having more siblings hurt as much as it did make me feel not as alone.

So I wasn't the only clone of Shadow then? Did the Professor have so little faith that my genes wouldn't do the trick to cure people with NIDS? What if we opened those pods, and another ME walked out?

Would I be special anymore?

"Hey, Luna. Look at this." Shadow called.

I turned, and walked over to him. "What is it?"

"These locks... These are what my pod was locked with." He ran his hand on the indents. "Two... three... Midnight's is opened... five... and seven?" He studied the seven Emerald-locked pod, attempting to rub the cryogenic fog from the viewing window, but the fog was on the inside. He moved over to Midnight's looking for what made it open.

"They all have aging counters put into them, as well as the Emerald locks." Shadow observed. "Midnight's pod... is damaged. It let him out prematurely."

"That's explains his crazy fit." I recalled.

"It does. But what bothers me is the seven Emerald pod."

I look over, "Seven emerald... does that mean it needs the Chaos Emeralds to open it? If that's the case then at the very least Gerald wanted to make it hard for whatever's in there to get out."

I look back to Shadow, "Are any of the other pods scheduled top open soon?"

"The two-emerald pod is ready, as is the four. But we only have two Emeralds, so we can only open the first one for now." Shadow said, pulling out his green Chaos Emerald.

I take out my red one. "Is this the part where what's in here sends us on an epic quest to gather the emeralds, and free our family?"

"...I'd say that you're hanging around Sonic too much, but unfortunately, I can't think of what else it could be." Shadow put his Emerald in the first slot.

"Both maybe," I suggested as I put mine in the second.

"I'll go with that."

The Emeralds react to the pod, and a machine whirs to life inside. The pod depressurizes, and it open, letting out cryogenic fog.

Shadow jumps and spins as a ball, using his quills to air out the pod faster.

Inside the pod, a black female hedgehog with red stripes sleeps. She had short hair, like Amy's. She wore a crimson sundress, and our standard (apparently) gloves. Her skates, however, were designed to look more like regular shoes. She also looked six.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she yawned. She looked at us and blinked. She slowly got a big smile, and dashed out, hugging Shadow around the waist. "Midnight! We're finally out!" She cheered. "And you got a haircut!"

Shadow blinked and slowly patted her head, looking at me. "Well... his name's actually Midnight." He said slowly.

I bent down to her, "Sorry, wrong person. that is big brother Shadow, and I'm Luna."

Well... if Gerald had to make another female Ultimate Lifeform, at least I'm older.

"Shadow?" She looked up at Shadow with awe. "You're big brother Shadow?" She then looked at me. "You're big sister Luna?!" She ran over and hugged me around the waist, cheering, "You're safe! Daddy said you would! You saved Maria!"

I hug her back, rubbing her head as I look at Shadow over her.

Shadow stares silently back at me before clearing his throat and growling, "Omega, did you find anything?"

"Affirmative."

Shadow walks into the next room, leaving me to tell her about what's happened. Jerk. I kneel down to her level, "Sweety, what's your name?"

I want to know just how she knows me, but since she hasn't... harassed me I decided to be polite.

"I'm Star Nova DaDroid!" She giggled.

I sigh, "Well Star... You've been asleep for a very long time, okay?"

"And I'm still not big and strong like you!" She pouted.

Shadow walked up to Omega and stated, "What have you found?"

"A lot, actually." Ai responded.

"Units are named as follows: Star Nova Dadroid, Scarlet Shade DaDroid, Midnight Lance DaDroid, Antonio Slogluiganoff, and Mega "Nemesis" DaDroid. Each are assigned a differing function than you and Luna." Omega droned.

I kept one ear turned towards them as I continued, "Well... That's because we don't change like humans do... and we... stay around a lot longer too."

I swallowed, and took a breath, "It was too long for them; Gerald, and Maria."

I rubbed behind her ear softly, "But Star, now they're someplace no one will ever be able to hurt them. We won't be able to see them for a long while, but yes they're safe."Dec 13, 2013Star frowned, saying, "They went to heaven, right?"

"What are their assignments?" Shadow questioned.

"Unit Star was assigned to keep Maria company. A sister, I believe the term is. She has Maria's DNA, and would match positive in a blood test." Omega said in his monotone voice. "Scarlet was designated to be a caretaker for Maria. A nurse or parental figure. Midnight was designed to be a guard. He is programmed with pages worth of combat and weapons experience; Even I do not possess this knowledge."

"Great, and I just let him leave." Shadow mutters. "What about the last two?"

"Data not available at this time. Come back in a few minutes."

I nodded, and smiled. "Yup, they're playing with angels as we speak. You're so smart!"

I gave Star a hug while raising an eyebrow at Omega. First Ai, now Omega? Either someone had programmed them to be a pair of smartasses, or...

I call out, "Ai, preform Self-Diagnostics. You, and Omega may be infected with a virus!" "Performing... One virus found! Purging!" Ai said.

"Running diagnostics... None found... Outside frequency found! Rerouting signal! Activating countermeasures!"

"Who's this outside frequency?" Shadow demanded.

"Robotnik." Omega stated.

"Eggman?!" Shadow dashed to the terminal and picked Omega up, pressing a few buttons. "Hope, respond! I need everything you've got to remove a hacker!" Shadow growled.

"Gotcha! I'm sending a patch now, hopefully it'll hold until I'm logged in. What's the password into the-"

"Maria!" Shadow roared.

"All right! Sheesh, you're so snappy!"

"When isn't he," I muttered, but I knew everyone present could hear me.

"I'm gonna be nice, since there are children present. Shaddap." Shadow scowled at me. I whispered in Star's ear, "Repeat after me..."

Then I stuck my tongue out at Shadow. Star giggled and did so.

Shadow rolled his eyes, turning back to the screen, muttering, "Women." Aloud, he stated, "We need to hole up the rooms again. I don't suppose you two can figure out a way to do that while I erase all evidence of the room being here...?"

"Affirmative," Ai responded. "Critical emergency, Doctor Robotnik now knows Midnight is on the loose. he will spare no expense to find him before we do."

I bite my lip, and look down at Star, "Sweety, can you think of anyplace Midnight might go?"

"A gun store." She answered immediately. She added, "Or, a weapons depot. Or both. It's his job to protect us."

"...Done. The room no longer exists." Shadow stood, walking back to the rooms. "Grab your Chaos Emerald, Luna. You'll be needing it more than the pods will at the moment." He grabbed his before walking into the next room.

I snatched mine before lifting Star into my arms. Before we went looking for Midnight I was going to leave her at Amy's, or maybe Cream's house.

Then again, if she knows Midnight then she might help us talk some sense into our screwy brother.

Using a Chaos Spear and some sheet metal he found, Shadow wielded the hole he made before ceiling up the hidden rooms and deleting the coding for the hidden door. He grabbed Omega and unplugged Ai, tossing Ai to me.

"The biggest weapons depot would be Weapon's Depot, in Central City." He said, consulting Omega.

I nodded as Ai secured himself to my wrist. I looked at Star, "Okay Star, Midnight woke up before he was supposed to so he's very cranky... and out of his mind in my opinion."

Star tilted her head and said, "He was woken up early? Did you tell him that Maria and Gerald are in heaven?"

"He's gonna go to the library first. Maria's old library before she came to the ARK. There, they'll have info on all of our family." Star said.

Shadow looked at me. "I've known her for eleven years... and not once did she mention a library to me." Shadow scratched his head. "I don't know where it is."

I smiled, "Can you show us where is is Star? We need to tell Midnight the good news!"

"Okay!" She reached up and touched my Chaos Emerald, becoming serious and calling, "Chaos... CONTROL!"

We teleported to a small town near Soleanna.

...One hundred feet in the air.

"Woah!" Shadow had the presence of mind to kick on his skates and catch us, severely slowing our descent.

Star sweated and apologized, "Oopsies... I forgot Daddy hasn't finished teaching me that yet..."

I chuckled as we floated to the ground, "Yeah... I guess the trick is imagining yourself actually standing where you want to be."

"Daddy?" Shadow set us down before landing. "Do you mean Gerald?"

"You've never met Daddy?!" Star asked, astounded. "Daddy's the bestest! He's so strong, he fought Black Doom and won!"

Shadow glanced at me. The seven Chaos Emerald-locked pod. That must be him.

"I... see." Shadow managed. "Why don't you take us to the library?"

"'Kays!" She turned and activated her skates, and she threw me off by skipping, each hop catapulting her into the air, instead of skating like me and Shadow.

"That explains the different skates." Shadow mused. "Added heel and arch support instead of toe, to prevent hurting herself upon landing."

"Facinating," I said, not really caring about anything but keeping up with her. I did take a moment to note the differences between us. For instance my style of skating was more graceful than Shadow's which reminded me of a Bullet Train I saw once on TV.

Star stopped and pointed. "There it is!"

Wow, that's a small library... Will it really have all the information Midnight's looking for?"

We walk inside, and Shadow walked right up to the front counter. He whipped out his GUN I.D. and stated, "Agent Shadow, Guardian Unit of Nations. Have you seen any hedgehogs that look like me, but with more quills?"

The librarian blinked and said, "No, I haven't. Is he a fugitive?"

"He's dangerous and possibly armed."

"Oh dear... Do you have a number I can reach if he comes here?"

He pressed a button on Omega, and the top came off, another underneath. He handed the face to the woman and stated, "Place it under the desk, and press it when he comes." He turned and curtly walked back to us, and stated, "He wasn't here, Star."

"Then he went to the weapons depot."

I take Shadow's hand, "Ai, can you do a quick scan for Chaos Energy before we go?"

"Just finished. No Chaos energy signatures except for you three." Ai said.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow called.

We landed in front of a burning down mall-sized building.

"The depot!" Shadow roared, running. "Gr... we should've came here first."

I kept a hold of Star's hand as we dashed after him.

"Midnight, where are you?!" I look around frantically. "Midnight, it's Luna! Star's awake, she's with us!"

"Midnight! Please come out!" Star called out.

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite girls."

We whirled around, and Midnight walked out from the flames of the building. He was different, wearing a red and black jumpsuit, a harness that held sheathed swords on his back and holsters on his waist, and he had changed his gloves to red and black ones to match his suit (He kept his inhibitor rings, however). He was aiming two pistols at us, walking slowly towards us, as if expecting us to make a move at him. "Star, step away from the cute girl. I don't want you to get scarred for life." Midnight's eye twitched, and he ticked before adding, "And you, no sudden movements. Just because I like you doesn't mean I won't shoot you."

I slowly put Star behind me, standing protectivly in front of her.

"Midnight, it's okay. You left before I could tell you something important."

"Unless you want to get it on, or you want to give me a Chaos Emerald, I don't want to hear anything you've got to say." Midnight spat. He paused, tilting his head, before adding, "Unless you've got this super funny joke. Or you know where to find a Chaos Emerald. Or you know who killed Benjamin Bunny."

Star said slowly, "This... isn't the entire Midnight I remember... He was funny, and at times serious... protective of us... I don't remember him emoting like this."Dec 14, 2013I smiled, "Midnight, Gerald, and Maria might be dead, but they're in Heaven now! WE need you big bro..."

I sighed, and folded my ears, "You can even touch my breasts..."

Midnight looked at his left shoulder for a second, saying, "You heard her, right?"

He looked at his right shoulder and listened, growling, "But it's probably a limited time offer!"

He looked back at his left and said, "I know, right?!"

He looked at his right and shouted, "Quit being a spoilsport!"

He screamed, clutching his head and falling to a knee. He muttered, "Nononono... you're right... the prophecy... We need Dad back... He knows everything... SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP! I'VE DECIDED!" He stood, glaring at us. He forced a smile and said, "Keep that option open, won't you sweetie? Your bro's a bit conflicted right now." He faded out, reappearing next to me and pointing the gun to my head. He kissed Star on the forehead and cooed, "Big bro's gonna be gone for a bit longer, but he'll be back, I promise!" He glared at me and said threateningly, "If she dies on your watch, I'm gonna kill you, then violate your corpse. THEN I'LL REVIVE YOU AND TELL YOU WHAT I DID! AHAHAHAHAH!" He warped away, leaving my ears ringing.

"...He also didn't talk to himself or go crazy." Star shivered, hugging me for protection. I picked her up, and a fiery beam from above us falls. I crouch, throwing up a Chaos Shield over us like a bubble. I grunt on the impact.

"Shadow, get your tail over here dammit!"

Star looked up fearfully before closing her eyes, raising her hand high and shouting, "Star Shower!" Chaos energy manifested outside of my barrier and rained down, destroying the beam. When the energy struck my shield, it was absorbed, giving me strength.

Shadow rushed in, ready to throw a Chaos Spear. He paused, looking around. He growled, "He was here, wasn't he?"

I nod as I cast the shield aside, "He's trying to revive the Father guy too. Now let's get the flock out of dodge!"

"Right. Chaos Control!" He teleported us to Amy's house.

He looked at Omega and stated, "It's well after lunch. I need to report my findings to GUN. I would recommend resting for the day. Star should get a handle on life while you can give her the opportunity." Without waiting for an answer, he teleported away.

I sighed in relief. I went inside with Star by the hand, "Amy! Guess what?"

"What? Did you kick Shadow's behind?" Amy walked into the living room, drying her hands with a towel.

"Better, I have a little sister!"

I put Star in front of me for her to see, "Amy, this is Star. Star, this is my best friend Amy."

"OMIGOD! She's so cute!" Amy cooed, rushing over. She bent over and hugged Star, saying, "I'm Amy Rose, Luna's friend! What's your name, sweetie?"

"Star?" Star looked at me nervously. "Didn't you already say my name?"

"Yeah, but when she's in a mood stuff goes in one ear, and out the other." I smile, and giggle.

"How old are you, Star?" Amy giggled.

"Uh... Fifty-six?" Star looks at me for confirmation.

"Plus whatever age we look like," I affirmed. "So in my case I'm Seventy-seven."

"...Wow. You don't look any older than six though!" Amy tilted her head.

"I'm hungry." Star said uncomfortably, attempting to change the subject.

"Oh, you poor thing! Let me see what I can whip up!" She gave Star one final hug before running back into the kitchen.

Star sighed with relief. "Does she have any other friends? She seems lonely." She observed.

I sat on the couch, and put her in my lap, "Yeah she has friends, but there's one person, a guy, that she REALLY likes. I don't think he feels the same way, but I've only been on Mobius for a month now so I could be wrong."

I point to a picture of Sonic on a wall, "That's him, his name's Sonic. Until we Ultimate Lifeforms started waking up he was the fastest thing alive. He, and big bro are rivals!"

"He looks exactly like Shadow!" Star blinked. "How does Amy tell them apart?"

I stare at her, "He does not, and for several reasons. First Shadow is black, and Sonic is blue. Second, Sonic doesn't have highlights like we do. On top of that the way they style their quills is very different."

"Well... yeah... but Amy looks like the girl to need a pair of glasses." Star confessed.

I tilted my head, "Really? Amy in glasses?"The image made me snicker.

"OMIGOD! SONIC!" Amy screamed from the kitchen. A thud was heard next.

"OOF! DAMMIT ROSE! IMMA THROTTLE YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!"

"EEK!" Amy ran past us screaming, gunned into her room, and locked it behind her.

We both turn to see Shadow with a bowl of... something on his head, looking severely ticked.

"I try to be a good brother... try to surprise my sisters with mashed potatoes... But noooo." Shadow yanked the bowl off his head, dripping mashed potatoes onto the floor.

"Told you." Star giggled.

"I'll talk to her doctor about contacts or something."

"The Commander wasn't in. I slipped a report under his door and came back. I suppose Star is my sister as well, so I should help take care of her." Shadow frowned, obviously not convinced of his own reasoning.

I quickly bury Star under some couch cushions, "No way am I falling for the same trick twice in one day! Prove that you're Shadow right now, or I'll rip out your CPU!"

Shadow pulled out his green Chaos Emerald. "...It's what Maria would've asked me to do." He said finally.

I frowned, and quickly snatched the emerald from him. Good thing he taught me how to tell a real from a fake...

I untense, "Sorry bro, had to make sure."

"I know. I taught you well." Shadow sat next to us, staring off into space. "We have more siblings." He stated it as a fact of resignation. "Which means I'm no longer THE Ultimate Lifeform. I'm AN Ultimate Lifeform."

I rub my head, "Um... You're the FIRST, the ORIGINAL right? At any rate you're the best skilled, I doubt Midnight could stand against you. It looks like he's got a couple of guys in his head distracting him."

"Yeah... I'm the first." He looked at his watch and waved a hand over it. A holo-screen came up, and he typed in a few words. "Let's go into further detail on us, shall we? Omega, bring up the information taken from the terminal."

"Affirmative."

He scooted closer, moving his arm so that we could easily see.

"...A diary? Hm. February 27, 1967. Shadow is the Ultimate Lifeform, the perfect balance of warrior and healer... my son. He will save Maria. Click for rest of-"

He waved his hand. "Maybe later. I know enough about myself. Omega, word search: Luna."

"Processing."

"Here we go... November 4, 1969. Project: Luna is coming along swimmingly. She will be ready for self-incubation in a matter of days. I must be careful. She is much more complex than Shadow, and possibly more fragile. Click for rest of page."

I click before he can do anything.

"Luna is a wondrous subject, and hopefully future daughter. However I may be a bit out of my comfort zone with this experiment. Removing the Y chromosome during the cloning process seems to have caused a chain reaction of sorts. Her bio-signature is now the complete opposite of Shadow's, what this entails I do not yet know.

"I pray that it's not serious."

"Gesundheit." Shadow smirked.

"Ai, can you translate this into english?"

"It seems to imply, Luna, that you and Shadow are polar opposites right down to your DNA."

"That explains why you're so gosh-darned happy most of the time." Shadow griped.

Star giggled. "Read mine next!"

"Very well. Omega, search for Star."

"Match found. Displaying full entry."

"...December 15, 1971. Even with Shadow, Maria is becoming lonesome. I have taken some liberties with my latest projects... Project Star will be modified to be available for awakening soon. Projects Midnight and Scarlet will be ready as scheduled.

I am amazed at how much faster their incubation process is with Mega's DNA. If only I could've given Luna an update patch before I started her incubation... Ah well, she'll get one when she awakens. I have administered to Shadow the patch as well. Already he is becoming less dependent on power, and more on analysis. Soon he will be introduced to his third 'father', and learn more about the energy he wields so effortlessly. I hope to see the day when all of my children are awakened, and we can be a family, like Maria always wished for."

I stared, "...This patch thing, it sounds like every Ultimate Lifeform but me has one..." "So what is it?" Shadow mused.

"It's a Chaos adapter."

Both of us looked at Star.

"Daddy comes from very far away, and he was one of the bestest Chaos peoples there! He showed me tons of stuff he could do! He even turned gold and flew around once!" Star said excitedly.

"That's... the ability to turn Super!" Shadow blinked. "How many Chaos Emeralds did he have?"

"None. He had this light-blue gem the size of your foot." She pointed at Shadow's skates.

"...I've never heard of... Maybe a Super Emerald? But if it was so difficult to find Chaos Emeralds at the time, how did he get a Super Emerald?" Shadow was puzzled.

I blink, "Wait, "very far away?" Like, he's not from this planet then?"

"Nope! He says he's from a planet far away, where Mobians were created with light instead of dust!" Star's eyes sparkled. "It's like a fairy tale!"

"Great... another alien dad. One was enough." Shadow groaned.

"Well can anything really be worse than Black Doom," I ask Shadow.

"Dark Super Sonic." He answered immediately, grimacing and suppressing a shudder. For some reason that made me shudder too... but not a bad one. That confused me a lot.

"What's that?"

He stood moving to the center of the room. He took off his inhibitor rings, and immediately became Chaos Shadow. He levitated until he no longer touched the ground. "Imagine for a second that Sonic became so engulfed with sadness and rage, that it taints his very skin the same color I am now." He focused, his Chaos aura turning blackish purple. "In this state, he has reason, but it has been severely darkened. He no longer sees black, grey, and white, only bad people... and friends. If you're not his friend, then you're bad." He pointed to his eyes. "He has no pupils, and he looks and acts like he's Super Sonic." He landed, putting his rings back on before taking a slow breath. He finishes, "It is by far the strongest form any of us have ever accessed, excluding Fusion."

I felt my body trembling.

"Shadow... can we go outside?"

"Sure? Star, stay inside... See if you can convince Rose to cook us something." He stood, motioning to the front door.

I walked outside, my hands rubbing my inhibitor rings.

Once in the front yard I turned, and unclipped my rings. Then I took Shadow by the arms. On instinct a phrase came to my lips as I felt the energy well up inside me.

"Chaos Ressonance."

A sudden whirlwind blasted around us as my red fur turned black, and the black of Shadow's fur shone brilliant yellow. My quils thrashed about like razor whips while his stood like they were reaching for the sky. White light shone from my eyes, almost blotting out my irises, and pupils.

I'd never felt so good... so powerful...

"Oh, shit..." Shadow quickly yanked away staring at me like I had become a demon. "The patch is the usage of Chaos! Without the patch, you can't turn regular Super!"

I stared at my hands in wonder, and felt the aura around me. I felt unstoppable!

"No big bro, this is right! I was made to be the darkness to your light. THIS is why I was made!"

I laughed, not too unlike Midnight had earlier.

"No...You need to stop, right now! We need to free Mega, let him give you the patch! The darkness will consume you!" Shadow was genuinely afraid of me.

Something inside me stirred, some part that wanted to challenge him... fight him... rip him limb from limb!

…What?

I flew at him, a brief spike of fear, and shock bringing me back for a moment. "Reverse Ressonance!"

Black mist flew from me into Shadow, and yellow rippled from him into me. In a minute we were back to our normal selves. I felt numb, a dull heat throbbing in every fiber of myself.

Shadow grabbed my rings from the ground, and slapped them onto my wrists. "This will not happen again anytime soon." He said lowly. "If you become uncontrollable like Midnight, and Sonic and I have to stop you..." He let the statement hang in the air.

It started slow... but I began to cry. I sobbed into his chest. "never again... NEVER AGAIN!" He awkwardly hugged me, patting my back. "Hush. Now we know. All the more reason to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, so we can give you the patch. We begin tomorrow."

I nod, "A-a-ai... send out... communication to Sonic, and his friends... the emerelads HAVE to be found, and brought to the ARK..."

"Affirmative."

Shadow pressed a button on his watch and stated, "Attention all GUN scientists! We are at level three. Activate Hunt protocol, authority: Terios. Over and out." He looked at me and said, "Well, I can't leave you alone anymore. And Star has to come with us. I guess you two are coming home with me."

I nod, "I'll get my things."