Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Well, here it is. I hope you won't be disappointed. I'll let you read the fic now.
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Shadow's POV
"Hey!" Rouge shouted. "Look up ahead! We're almost there."
We'd been trying to get to the house for a while now, and to be honest, I was relieved at how close we were. I could practically see the place from where I was standing.
How did we know where the house was? Well, I took a tracking device from the doctor's base when I escaped. I had given it to Rouge while we were traveling, since she already has a bunch of her own gadgets. She's been directing us the whole time.
Once we were in the front lawn, I decided to check the perimeter, in case some Mobians were around outside. We could get the Chaos Emerald from them.
"Well would you look at that! Some of our little Mobian friends are having a nice day at the beach. What do you say we join in?" The twenty year-old bat asked playfully from a low section of the roof.
I sighed. "Let's just get that Chaos Emerald," I told her. We walked onward to the drop-off which led down to a small strip of beach land. This is where many Mobians were. All of which were going to face me if they didn't hand over the Chaos Emerald.
I jumped down, unnoticed for some reason. Rouge came down, too, eying all the other Mobians.
"How could they not have told me about their little beach party?" Rouge said sarcastically. "No matter. I don't need an invitation."
I smirked as I watched them all. "Should we go in yet?" I asked.
Rouge shrugged. "Why not?" She walked a few paces forward. "Excuse me!"
All the Mobians turned at the sound of her voice. When they realized who it was, their eyes widened.
"I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I do believe that you have something we want." Rouge scanned the small crowd of Mobians. "Well, where is it?"
"What is it going to take for you guys to just back off?" the red Mobian asked. I think Knuckles was his name. I never really could remember it.
Rouge put her hands on her hips. "Well, if it isn't my favorite little echidna! You know, if I didn't know where it was, I'd try to get that big, shiny emerald from you. But I've come here for the smaller ones. Where are they?"
Knuckles was appalled at this, and proceeded to attempt to attack us, but a few other Mobians held him back.
"You won't be getting any emeralds from us today!"
Oh crap. I recognized that voice. I turned around and looked up. Sure enough, he was there, standing on the edge of the rocky drop-off with a smug grin on his face.
"Hey there, Shadow," Sonic said as he jumped down from the ledge.
"Hello, faker," I replied. "Hand over that emerald and nobody gets hurt."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"No?" I cracked my knuckles. "Well, it looks like we're just going to have to take it from you then."
"Bring it on!"
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Diana's POV
I was running from the city towards my house. I had to tell everyone about this. Otherwise, we might all be dead before we can take the Mobians back to their home planet.
Suddenly, I tripped on something, causing me to fall. I shrieked and rolled a little ways, possibly getting a few scrapes along the way. When I stopped, I slowly got up and checked for broken bones and big gashes, although I didn't expect much. Turns out, I was a little bruised, and some stuff scraped me a little, but I was okay.
I turned around to see what I had tripped on. I gasped when I saw a glowing gem on the ground. Could this be another Chaos Emerald? It sure looked like it. This one was purple, though.
I walked over to the jewel and picked it up. It had the same glow the other two had. I decided to take it with me. It'd be useful eventually. So I held on tight to the Chaos Emerald and sped off towards my house.
It only took a few seconds to get to the ledge that dropped off to the beach. When I got there, however, I stopped.
Sonic and another hedgehog-looking Mobian were fighting, along with another Mobian that I didn't recognize who was just beating up a few of the others.
I didn't know what was going on here, but I wanted to find out. I jumped down and walked towards the two fighting hedgehogs.
I was about to start yelling at them, but I took a hard look at the other hedgehog. I immediately froze.
The hedgehog was black with red streaks. I had seen him in my vision.
This isn't possible. I had to find out who he was. Otherwise, I knew I would never be at peace. I'd stay awake at night wondering…
Okay, enough with this crud. Time to get some answers.
"Hey! Stop, stop, STOP!" I yelled. Not just at the two I was looking at, but all of the Mobians.
The black and red hedgehog gave Sonic a punch in the jaw, and then turned tome, irritation in his eyes. But once his gaze fell on me, he stopped dead. Recognition dawned on his face. And he breathed one word that gave more questions than answers.
"Maria…"
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Shadow's POV
How is this possible? Maria had been dead for at least forty years now, and yet here she was, standing right in front of me. I still remember her death like it was yesterday.
"Who are you?" Maria asked. "And why are you fighting my friends? What do you have against them?"
What? How could she not recognize me? If this really was Maria, then she may have lost her memory or something.
"Maria, I-" I began, but I was cut off by the faker sitting next to me.
"Shadow, she's not Maria," Sonic said to me. "Her name is Diana. I guess she looks similar to Maria. But I've never seen her, so I wouldn't know."
The girl, whoever she was, looked confused. "Who's Maria? And you still haven't told me who you are."
I frowned. "My name is Shadow. If I'm not mistaken, you are Maria, my friend. You lived on the space colony ARK with me. I thought you were dead, but…"
Tears formed in her eyes as some sort of realization came to her. "No…no, it can't be true. It's not true. I…I just can't do this!" She spun around and ran off.
"Wait! I-" I stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Amy, in an apron over her usual clothing.
"I was standing on the ledge. I heard everything," she said. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I don't really think you should bother. You may catch up to her, but she'll just deny it. Even if she is who you think she is, she'll just keep on telling you and herself it's not true. You'll get nowhere."
I jerked my shoulder away from her hand. Yet I couldn't help but to agree with her. If she really WAS Maria, she'd never be happy again. She might feel like a stranger in her own body.
I sat down and sighed. Maria was my friend. She may have been that girl, but have I really gotten her back?
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Diana's POV
I didn't care that I had just abandoned my friends. I didn't care that I could get myself killed. I just wanted to be alone.
Why did it have to be me? Shadow had convinced me that I really was an intruder in my own life. Those small sentences he had uttered had seemed like lies, but they could be true. It would explain the visions I've been having. I may not be Diana Thorndike, but a girl who lived on a space colony. What was I doing here?
I kept running until I collapsed onto the ground in tears. Those visions were trying to tell me something. I now knew what it all was. I'm a clone, a phony living out someone else's life.
I sat up, wiping my tears away. After learning that I really wasn't myself, I felt like a stranger in my own body. Funny how a little piece of info can change the way you see yourself.
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Sonic's POV
Wow. I really do think Diana overreacted, but I can see why she'd be upset. I mean, hey, wouldn't you be shocked and sad to learn that you were someone from the past who decided to reincarnate to like, I don't know, live the life they were meant to live, save the world when they only made it worse, something like that? I pity the kid. But, hey, Shadow could be wrong. She might not be that girl he had been friends with.
I rubbed my jaw, where Shadow had punched me. I think he knocked a tooth out with that hit. I rubbed the spot, and drew back after a few seconds. It hurt.
"Hey guys!" I heard someone say. I looked up to see Danny, Manic, and Tails jumping down from the ledge.
"We were watching TV, and one of Eggman's ships was over the city!" Tails explained. "We need to go do something about it!"
I grinned. "Awesome. I've been waiting for some action." With that, I took off running. I'm sure the others were following me. Time to kick some robot butt.
Now, I wonder where Diana is….
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Yes, I know, I'm getting boring, but just wait. Again, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'll try to update the next chapter faster.