What? I'm back? Yeeeeeeeah, baby! Sorry about my extremely long hiatus; school, life, and my depression had me trapped in a deep, uncreative hole. So here it is- chapter 21. Enjoy!
Maria's bedroom on the ARK was quite impressive- an elegant four-poster bed draped with massive and cozy baby blue linens stood at one end of the room, surrounded by a plushie collection so extravagant that it would make any small girl envious. Maria was given everything she wanted, and yet it never seemed to sour her disposition- in fact, one might say that she was "spoiled sweet". One mid-afternoon, Shadow found himself sitting at Maria's little sky blue tea table, joined by Mister Snuggle Bug, Miss Chevious Kitticat, Ufflecuddles, and Adjunct Professor Mimsy. The soft light from Maria's table lamp reflected from the other guests' button eyes and somehow made them even more lifeless and eerie to the surly black hedgehog. Shadow drummed his fingers on the table impatiently as he waited for Maria to return with the tea bags and water. From the other side of the room, a small stereo hummed away the infectious and embarrassingly catchy hits of the Backstreet Boys. Shadow found himself absentmindedly singing along. Finally fed up (and realizing that leaving a small girl to boil a pot of water and carry it halfway across a space colony filled with sciency-things wasn't the best of ideas) he went off to go find her.
Stepping out of the room, Shadow started down the hallway. After a few seconds, he realized that he was being followed. Turning suddenly, he saw that it was Abraham Tower, one of Maria's human friends. He was an odd child- his eyes were two completely different colors, his hair was already grey despite the fact that the kid was maybe seven or so, and he possessed a small stutter. Worst of all, the way his face was set up (and the incompetency of the animators) made it almost certain that whenever he was frightened, his face contorted into the most humorous expression out of any character of any game. Since Shadow is what seemed to scare little Abe more than anything, he made his trademark narmy expression and ran the other way. Not wanting to hurt the small child, Shadow continued on faster than usual.
In a mad dash for the colony kitchen, he suddenly ran into something strong and covered in thick cloth, which knocked him to his feet.
"WATCH IT," snapped a gruff voice that Shadow had never heard before. Looking up at the menacing figure, Shadow assumed that this must be what the Professor had called a soldier. To Shadow, the way the professor said it made it sound as if the word required italicized text.
"GUN says that the colony needs more protection," the aged mustacio'ed scientist had muttered helplessly while fussing over his tubes and wires. "I don't believe a single word- why on Mobius would they come up to protect us when they've just cut our funding?"
Shadow gazed suspiciously up at this soldier. He was clad in all black attire, which felt as if it was made from a potato sack. Not to say that it wasn't strong and state of the art, of course. High tech sensors were stitched inside to detect weak points, provide warmth or an ice cold chill (whichever was needed at the time), and could also hunt down lost socks. This soldier also donned a pair of RoboCop glasses, perfect for making anyone look like a complete tool. At that second, Shadow realized something.
"Just what are you supposed to be?" asked the soldier.
The fruits of Project Shadow were not supposed to be seen by anyone not directly involved. The Ultimate Lifeform's cover had just been blown. The soldier reached for his walkie talkie.
"I need reinforcement at Sector SA-2. I have reason to believe that I have found just what we have been looking for."
"Shadow, you can't let him get to you like that." The two had outside beside GUN headquarters. Shadow took in his surroundings as a means to find a happy place. Maria was bent over, busying herself with a patch of daffodils nearby.
"I know Maria. I just have a problem controlling my temper."
"It's not that. You seem... different than when I last saw you. It's like you're a completely different hedgehog."
"Time changes people, Maria. I've had to adapt to living here on this planet- dealing with these people, living a completely different life-"
"I understand, Shadow, but you need to see that the way you treat others right now needs to be different. I'm not saying that you need to be friends with him, or run up and give him a great big hug whenever you see him, but you at least need to show a little compassion." She stood up and handed him a small bunch of sweet smelling yellow flowers. "Be the better hedgehog."
"I think I see what you mean," he sighed as a ruby red butterfly landed on the flora, turning this already sappy moment into fanfic gold. She hugged him tightly and absentmindedly scratched behind his ear.
"I know what we should do," she squealed, jumping up and accidently smacking him upside the head. "We need to do something that will make you smile!" The very thought made Shadow cringe. Seeing this, Maria thought for a bit. "What about a ride on your motorcycle?"
"If you insist. It's in GUN's garage."
"Perfect! We have the whole day ahead of us- we can have a picnic, and see a movie, and go to one of those theme park things, and-"
"I thought we were only going for a ride."
"We need a way to get there, don't we?"
"I suppose..."
"Fantastic!" She grabbed his arm and yanked him back inside and proceeded to pull him up the stairs. They passed the rec room, where Sonic still had everyone gathered in front of the television, which was playing a fairly recent episode of an anime which used to be dubbed by those conniving (and currently bankrupt) bastards at 4Kids!, yet for some reason still retained some of their stock voice crew.
"Alright- you guys are NOT going to believe this." Sonic fast-forwarded though the bright colors and adorable mons until he stopped on an image of a well-dressed character with green hair and eyes. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is Cilan Dent. His voice is done by..." he stalled proudly as he pressed 'play'.
"It's tasting time!"
"JASON GRIFFITH! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" everyone squealed like little fangirls as they recognized that constantly joyous voice. Sonic even hugged the TV.
For those of you who gave up on the Pokemon anime long ago, in the newer seasons Brock has been replaced by Cilan Dent, a Pokemon Connoisseur that is 1) downright adorable, and 2) voiced by Jason Griffith. Oh, and if you want little Abraham Tower's facial expression, search 'Narm' on TV Tropes, scroll down to the "Video Games" tab, click on "Sonic the Hedgehog", and take a look to your right.