Aftershock
The flash ended. The gunshot too. All she remembered hearing, was her younger screams. The pilot died. So did Shadow. She remembered.
She remembered.
That day. Aboard the Ark. Twelve years ago.
Twelve years ago...
"She's behind the door!" a claim was given, jolting her from her dazed vision.
She spun around to face the entry way to the Chaos Emerald chamber. The red jewel of power lied firmly in her hand. She opened and closed the grip she held on it, while a cold sigh escaped her lips. Her rage was boiling, as faint tears started streaming down her cheeks. She grabbed a hold of her hair, and squeezed it tightly, as images of Ark screamed in her head.
How did one vision bring back so much pain?
It was like she was shell-shocked. She could remembered the violence, the horror, the death, caused by G.U.N. that day on Ark. So many innocent lives were taken, and for what? Why had they done so? There was no need for such excessive cruelty, so why?
It seemed as if, the closer she got to the answer, the closer she got to more questions. The world was spinning in her head, making her mind run wild with thoughts. But one thought remained constant.
They killed Shadow. They killed Shadow! Her Shadow. They killed him. And now, she would kill them.
The door crashed open. G.U.N. soldiers poured into the Chaos Emerald Chamber, their guns drawn. Down iron sights they stared, gleaming holes in everything that seemed out of the ordinary. Maria wasn't there. Nor was the Chaos Emerald. It seemed as if they both disappeared.
"Where is she!?" a question was called.
"She has to be here somewhere!" someone replied.
"Be on the lookout! She has to be here!"
One guard was unlucky. He strayed to far away from the rest of the group. Nearing one of the museum's artifacts, he didn't notice the blonde woman with red eyes behind it. She grabbed him, wrapped her lithe arms around his neck, and started squeezing. His chokes went silent against the air, as she held firmly on his mouth. She squeezed down harder, and harder, and eventually...
CRACK!
His body went limp in her arms, as she gave this most demented of faces.
Kill. She would kill them all.
She slid the dead body in the shadows, so his allies wouldn't notice. Leaning up against the wall, she lifted her gun, and peered over the edge. They were completely oblivious to her being there. The thought made her smirk. She was like a hawk, hunting down its foolish, foolish, pray.
She slid her finger's down her body suit, and to the belt around her waist. Lifting one of her cousin's many gadgets, she tapped a button on it. The device, which held her cousins visage, started to blink, the eyes a sharp red. She lifted the small construct, pulled back, and threw forward.
"What the!?" one of them yelled as it landed in their midst.
"Quick, before it-!"
The mouth of the machine slid open, and gas poured out. The puffy smog filled the soldier's lungs, causing them to cough and wheeze. Maria didn't care. In a blue blur, she appeared before them, face hard. One of them noticed her, through his crying face, but it was too late. With an opened palm, she slammed her hand against his head, forcing him down to the ground. A painful crackling noise echoed, though it wasn't a death-blow. Spinning around to face one of the other guards, she delivered a roundhouse kick, one that sent him crashing into a museum display. The final guard had finally shifted his gaze to her, only to meet a pistol. She fired, sending the lead object straight through his chest. He fell quickly, the red spot on his chest spreading rapidly.
She should have felt remorse. But she didn't. She felt vindicated. As if this was right. This was right.
This was justice.
"Guard Team respond," the blonde agent heard a call, "Guard Team respond!"
She lifted the radio off of one of their chests.
"Agent Maria Robotnik here," she responded, "Guard Team is down. Send back up immediately..."
"Agent... Maria...?"
"You heard me..."
She broke the radio in her hands.
…
His hand dove into the bag of pork rinds excessively.
Oh, the delicious greasy substance, how he loved it so. They tasted so good, so salty. He could easily eat these for hours on end without a second thought. A sudden and abrupt burp caused him to giggle, however, and ended his meal.
"Need to slow down on these," he said with a smile, whilst tapping his stomach, "Don't wanna get fat now do we?"
His eyes returned to the monitor before him, as his lips curled back up into that insane smile. A green bar lied on the screen, and was slowly, but surely, filling itself up. A number lied on the upper right part of the screen, changing slowly as well.
"C'mon, c'mon!" Ivo begged, watching the number approach 98, "Just a little bit further!"
It must have heard its pleases, as the number suddenly leaped from 97 to 100. The screen flashed, and Ivo's insignia filled it. The mad doctor laughed and laughed, as the words, 'DOWNLOAD COMPLETE' laid in the center of the screen. After a second, the statement faded away, to be replaced with millions upon millions of files. The Doctor was so elated by the image, it looked as if he could explode. That smile of his just kept growing, reaching near creepy levels. Then again, everything is creepy when it comes to Dr. Robotnik.
"Now," he said, cracking his fingers, "Let's see what Prison Island has on dear old cousin."
His fingers danced along the keyboard, searching through millions upon millions of files. Everyone pertaining to a certain blonde agent, was stripped from the rest of the files and placed in other places. One of them caught Ivo's eye, however.
"Experiments?" he said aloud, confused on if he actually read it or not.
Curiosity got the best of him, and he clicked on the file. Said file opened up a video. A video made eleven years ago.
"This is, Samantha Prower." a woman's voice called off-screen, "Today is... Uh... May 12, 1955. The first experiment of, which will hopefully, be the last. But I doubt it."
The camera turned around, revealing the speaker. A young fox girl, blue eyes, yellow fur, long hair, and bangs. Head Scientist of G.U.N. Samantha Prower. She looked unhappy with what she had to do, but that didn't stop her from doing it anyway. Lifting the camera, she shifted it away, showing a blonde girl laying on a cold slab. She was in a different room, one separated by glass, but it didn't take Ivo long to figure it out.
"This is, Maria Robotnik. Age 13. Survivor of the Ark Incident, and human being stricken with the disease known as NIDS." the fox laid the camera down, revealing a syringe with red fluids in her hand, "This is blood extracted from Project Shadow. If my hypothesis is correct, giving this to Maria should remove the NIDS within her. Unfortunately, this is only a theory but... It's a theory in need of testing."
The fox mobian lifted the camera. Though she was now off-screen, Ivo could hear her sigh with indifference. She really didn't want to do this. The woman holding the camera moved silently into the room holding Maria. She slid open the door, and stepped in. It just oozed cold.
"Maria?" Samantha called, her voice soothing, "Are you awake?"
The blonde girl toiled on the bed. Her head bobbed up, revealing just how pained she was. Her eyes were red, and bags laid under them. Still, she seemed okay.
"Yes, Samantha," she stated, "I'm alright."
The gave a smile, but Maria didn't return her kindness.
"What do you have me in here for today?" she questioned, laying her head back down on the cold slab.
The fox was silent at first, as her feet brought her to a table some ways away. Laying the camera on it, she shifted its gaze toward the blonde teen, who looked just so broken. Once again, Samantha gave a sigh. Still, she had a job to do.
"Well, Maria," she stated, "I'm here to give you medicine."
"Then why do you have me strapped down?" she questioned, her voice so hoarse and hollow, "This isn't the medicine I usually receive."
Samantha came into view on the camera then, silver blue eyes gazing at the syringe in her hand. She gave it a few flicks, before making her way over to Maria.
"Well, Maria dear, this is a different kind of medicine."
"Whatever," she stated, "Let's just get it over with."
She moved over to Maria's shoulder. The blonde girl gave no resistance, even as the sharp needle approached her.
Samantha jabbed it forward.
Maria winced lightly at the pain, though that hardened visage never wavered. Samantha pressed on the syringe in her hand, causing the red juices inside to flow into the blonde girl. That spurned something in Maria, because her wincing grew louder. Though this took only a few seconds, it seemed like forever. Samantha pulled out the syringe, threw it in a trash bin, and then grabbed some alcoholic tissues. Rubbing it on Maria's shoulder, she stopped the blood from flowing.
"What did you do to me?" the blonde questioned, looking up with her blue eyes.
"It's just something to combat the NIDS," Samantha stated, "Don't worry about it."
But Maria was worrying about it. Her eyes squinted, and she glared up at the fox.
"What... did... you... do... to... me?" she repeated, but slower this time.
"Its nothing Maria," Samantha reiterated, "Just don't think about it."
"Am I some kind of guinea pig?" the blonde questioned, "Is this some kind of experiment?"
Samantha lifted a tranquilizer gun. The blonde grew silent at the sight, while her face grew strong again. Though the fox showed she took no pleasure in doing so, she still stuck the tranquilizer up to Maria's arm. Pressing on the trigger, she injected a substance into the girl, which made her fall asleep quickly.
"Today is January 12, 1955," she stated, "Immediate response from injection of Project Shadow's blood. Maria has become a bit more forceful, though it is currently unknown if this is an effect of the blood or not. More tests must be performed to know such knowledge, though I really don't want to do so. Regardless."
She made her way to the camera. Tapping a button, she sent it off.
Ivo pulled back in his chair. The video was now over, leaving him with information he didn't understand. What did they inject into his cousin? Project Shadow's blood? It made him think. From what he read on G.U.N.'s Ark files, Project Shadow was a black and red hedgehog that held the cure for Maria. It was also designed as a weapon, capable of doing things no normal mortal could. But what was so special about its blood, and why did Maria change upon its injection? If it was the cure for NIDS, it should have simply, cured Maria's NIDS.
He'd need more information. He'd needed to prod a bit further.
He continued tapping on the keyboard, eventually finding yet another video file. Tapping it, he allowed it to play.
There was Samantha gain, but she looked a bit frantic. Holding the camera, she moved through many folds of G.U.N. soldiers. Some were unconscious, some were... dead.
"Samantha Prower, October 13, 1956. Maria Robotnik, age 14, has had the most drastic change to her yet." she breathed in and out, "After repeated exposures to Project Shadow's blood, Maria had gone under a sort of... metamorphosis." the fox entered her room, laying the camera down on her desk, "Just hours ago, Maria's eyes turned red and she attacked G.U.N. soldiers. The incident was brought about by a brief misunderstanding, one that sent Maria over edge. She ended up... killing... the soldier... When other soldiers were brought in to restrain her, she displayed abilities never before seen on a human. All of her abilities were enhanced tenfold. Her speed, her strength, her ability to withstand pain, all of it. It wasn't until a brief moment when her eyes returned to their blue color that we were able to take her down. I believe this is all caused by her constant exposure to Project Shadow's blood. Though I am not sure, I theorize that his blood is somehow fusing with her's, giving her his abilities. Of course, this is only a theory, as I cannot study this because of Project Shadow's death." she grew frail and frowned, her silver blue eyes looking down, "I pray the gods have mercy on me for what I did. I was just... following orders..."
"Samantha!" a voice called off-screen, catching her attention.
The video ended.
Ivo cocked his head in deep thought. This, honestly, made sense. Maria's meta-human abilities. It was the most mysterious thing about his cousin. How she could make her eyes turn red, and be granted powers beyond that of any normal man. He questioned her many times on how she got the ability, and she always attributed it to her G.U.N. training. But no amount of training allowed her to do the things she could do. He always figured it was genetic tampering, but now he knew it.
"G.U.N., G.U.N., G.U.N.," he whispered, lips turning into a sadistic smile, "You sick, sick, bastards!"
Another video started playing. Ivo was caught off guard, as he was not the one who played it. Regardless, he watched.
Samantha sat on a bed. Wearing nothing but her bra and panties, while a look of pained sadness laid on her face. She was holding the camera in one hand, having it look at her. After realizing the camera was on, she laid it on a nightstand, so it faced her directly.
"Samantha Prower," she said like before, "Today's date is March 14, 1957. I'm sorry for the impromptu video. I just... needed to say somethings. Tomorrow is the last day the tests will be performed on Maria Robotnik age 15. As happy as I am to know this, I can't help but to feel as if my part is not over. Maria Robotnik's reaction to Project Shadow's blood as increased steadily over time. She had learned to control this, meta-human, abilities of hers, allowing her to do with them as she pleases. When her eyes turn red, she gains all of his abilities. Superior strength, superior speed, superior resistance, and others that have yet to be known. Colonel Samson Taylor has taken a liking to her abilities, and he plans on showing Maria to the G.U.N. Commander soon. But... I don't know. I've heard talks between him and Private Coffee the rabbit on making her into a soldier. Samson seems to agree with the idea, while Coffee believes her to be a weapon we won't be able to control. I think they're both wrong. We should have never done this. It's a crime against nature. That blonde girl has the blood of her dead best friend inside of her, and she doesn't even know it. The only positive I can see from all of this, is that Project Shadow's blood work. After a test taken a few days ago, her NIDS is gone. We shall only inject one more dose of Project Shadow's blood inside of her tomorrow. Still... I feel... wrong. Whatever's about to happen, I know it will blow up in our face. Everyone thinks G.U.N. is right but... I can't help but to feel wrong." she shifted her gaze up to the Camera, "Samantha Prower out... hopefully..."
She reached forward. The video turned off.
Ivo nodded at the information given to him. Rubbing his head, he thought hard on it. From what the latest video told him, Maria was fifteen when the testing stopped. Funny, because Maria was fifteen when her G.U.N. training started. Though he wasn't sure if it started in the same year the testing ended, he was sure of it. In order to get those answers, he'd have to continue searching G.U.N.'s Prison Island files, a job he was more than happy to do. So, smiling, he reached into his bag of pork rinds once again. Lifting a hand full of them, he shoved them in his open mouth, while his eyes continued to read information.
…
Police vehicles and G.U.N. vehicles alike peppered the streets of Empire City. Civilians were advised to get back, lest they be in the direct line of the conflict. Helicopters and G.U.N. mechs flew over head, as lights beamed down upon the museum's position. They wouldn't let her go. Not now. Not again.
"Maria Robotnik!" a yell was given, "Turn yourself in immediately! We have the museum surrounded!"
Silently, she approached the museum's doorway. Behind her, the bodies of those unfortunate to cross her path. She cared not for the destruction she was causing, as those red eyes of hers took precedence over her blue ones.
"This is your last warning, Maria!" they yelled, "COME OUT NOW!"
Grabbing one of the soldier's rifles, she cocked it back. Her red eyes glared out the window shortly after, taking note of the soldiers outside. The sight caused her to giggle like a demented schoolgirl. Surely, they didn't think of stopping, her? It was impossible. She knew all of their strategies, all of their plans. Breaking through their blockade would be as easy as pie.
And she was going to prove it. She was going to prove to these fools just how weak they were, in comparison to her.
"You don't have to do this..." his indifferent voice stated.
The blonde agent chuckled, as her red eyes moved away. Coming into her vision, was a transparent hedgehog apparition. He stood before her, arms crossed, while his face appeared to be that of reason.
"Really, Maria," Shadow said, shaking his head, "There's other ways to get through."
"I know," she stated, "but... I don't wanna take those ways."
She turned to face the door once again.
"Don't do this on my behalf," he murmured, "Just take the underground way through the sewers. You'll find little resistance down there."
She scoffed, before chuckling.
"You think," she said, "I'm doing this on your behalf? This is for me, Shadow." her grip on her gun tightened, "They lied to me... for years... G.U.N. did. I thought they trained me. Made me what I am. But no, they just stole me. And..." she looked back at him, "They stole you... from me..."
"So this is what you want to do, huh? You want to break through their military, no matter what?"
"Yes..." she responded.
"Then what?"
"I'll kill them all if I have too..." she clinched onto her chest, "Whatever it takes... just to fill this hole in my heart."
Her foot kicked upon the door. She bursted forward.
In a blue blur, she zipped straight through the vehicles outside. Guns were fired, orders were given, and screams were called, but she ignored them all. She was much to fast for them, but not to fast for the mechs. From the air, G.U.N. walkers peppered the road with rockets. Finding the disregard for human life deplorable, Maria leaped up into the air. She landed on one of the walker's cockpits, causing the pilot to scream in fear. Not caring for him or his fear, she opened up the cockpit deftly. Her hand reached forward after, gripping him by the collar, and tearing him from his seat. He dangled in the air helplessly, as the G.U.N. mech started to fall. She threw him to the earth, and quickly took his seat. Closing the glass seal on the mech, she ceased its deadly free fall, causing it to land on the ground safely. After a few presses and prods of the buttons, she caused the G.U.N. walker to lift up its feet, and allow the jets on the bottom half propel it skyward.
"Maria Robotnik has hijacked G.U.N. Walker Unit 42-X. Orders are to take it and her down."
She giggled at the noise, as it came right through her radio.
"Idiots..." she replied.
Checking the radar in the Walker's cockpit, she noticed a haunting sight of G.U.N. mechs closing in on her position. Instead of showing fear, however, she turned around to face them. A few button presses caused the walker's rocket slots to open.
They fired.
The white and red missiles flew through the air, their positions locked onto their foes. The other mechs tried to out maneuver them. Some were lucky, others, less so. Those unfortunate enough to get hit, were destroyed in blazing furies.
Maria landed on the road seconds later. Her retreat covered for the time being, she shifted her gaze the opposite way. Putting the walker in overdrive, she caused it to rush down the roads at intense speeds. It barreled through cars and vehicles, destroying them with the lightest of touches.
"Maria Robotnik is making an escape in a G.U.N. Walker!" a call was given over the radio, "Currently, she's heading down main street."
"Oh shut up!" she yelled, finding the information annoying.
Figuring it was best to just ditch the walker, she did just that. First, she slammed on the gas so hard, she caused it to breaking, keeping it in running mode. Next, she opened up the glass seal, allowing the cold night-time air to blast her in her face. After making sure the Chaos Emerald and her pistol were safely on her person, she leaped out. She rolled on the water slicked roads, before coming to a complete stop, the G.U.N. Walker behind her. It continued to run, in spite of the fact that its pilot was long gone.
But it was all for naught.
A light appeared on her position, blinding her momentarily. After she got the courage to look up, she realized she was surrounded. G.U.N. was that way, G.U.N. was this way. They really did mobilize quickly. All of them aimed their guns forward at her position, causing her to step back.
"Maria Robotnik," they called, "Put down your weapon and the Chaos Emerald, then put your hands up."
"Put my... hands up?" she questioned, "Well..."
Her grasp on the Chaos Emerald tightened. The red brilliance it let off started to shine brighter, and brighter. G.U.N. soldiers covered their eyes, as its light grew to blinding levels. Maria stood indifferent to it all though. In fact, she was smiling. Lifting the Chaos Emerald high, she felt these words of power run through her.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
And then.
She vanished.
Soldiers were left slack-jawed at the sight. Poof, gone. Like the wind. As if she never existed.
