-1Maria watched that, wincing quietly at the sight of such a formerly powerful creature brought low. Defeating Black Doom had been one thing, a necessity, but this had become humiliation, torture, and that was beyond her. She took a moment to look their enemy over. Black Doom was just staring up at nothing now, those formerly frightful red-orange eyes hazy and distant, all his strength devoted to taking that next breath. He didn't even bother to try to stop the flow of blood from his chest wound, but that didn't matter, since the blood was only leaking out now. Most likely that was because there was very little left in his body, judging by the condition the floor was in. Each struggling breath shook his whole body, and she could hear him gasping from where she was. This definitely wasn't the cold, arrogant overlord she'd seen earlier. She moved in a little closer, then paused and looked to Shadow. "Shadow, could you please take the Chaos Crystals and leave? I… don't think you should see what comes next." The dark hedgehog nodded, taking that to mean that whatever she planned to do would probably be brutal. "I'll go," he said.
In his wake, Maria willingly entered the pool of blood to kneel by the fallen, dying Black Doom. "He's gone now," she said. "Shadow left." The alien slowly turned his head to look at her, seeming to struggle to focus on her face enough to see her clearly. "Shadow… he didn't… he didn't… kill them all… did he…?" Compassion drew forth a comforting lie. "No, he just thinks he did. He scared the rest so badly they won't come out of hiding for quite some time." That eased the half-dead overlord's seeming distress. She was starting to think he hadn't been fully evil after all. Just mostly. However, she still had a question. "Why? Why attack our world?" She was surprised to receive an answer. "Always wanted… a world of our own. Light… Warmth… Open spaces… All things denied us." She understood now. Here was a leader seeking what his people needed. Though the methods he had used were evil ones, the reason behind it wasn't evil at all. "The comet…" That brought her back to the moment. "What about the comet?" This time he did not demand, he requested. "…Return it… to the sky," he said. "Let it be… my eternal resting place, forever circling… this planet… as it did before, that whenever… it shines… in the sky… my people… may look up… and remember… who brought them here. I lived." In that moment she almost pitied the pathetic monster who lay dying on the floor. "I will." He seemed a bit more peaceful now, less agitated about the prospect of death. "Ch-child…?" He was addressing her again and again she listened. "Tell Shadow… the burden… will now… pass to him. As my blood-son… my people… will turn to him… when I am gone. Give them… a cause… to fight for… and they… shall be happy. We… had our eyes… on some caves… near that… great city we attacked." He paused. "Soon… very soon now… I will be gone… and the Black Arms… will have… a new leader. Shadow…" After falling silent for a moment, he spoke up again, his voice barely a whisper. "Strange… I can't remember… why I was so angry at him…" It was then that he finally let go. No longer distressed at the demise of his people, he passed on in peace.
Off to the side, she heard a small, soft cheeping noise, but she ignored it for the moment. Suppressing her revulsion, she picked up the corpse of Black Doom, still warm with freshly extinguished life, and placed it upon the altar. "This'll do," she said. The blood coated her body, making her fur and quills sticky, but she paid it no mind as the cheeping came again. This time it didn't stop, the insistent sound coming again and again until it led her to a forgotten dark corner, where a tiny form huddled amid the remains of what had to have been an eggshell. Awe filled her at the sight of the newborn Black Volt, a birdlike variant of the Black Arms species. The little creature looked up at her and squawked happily, spreading its tiny wings as if to try to fly. Adult Black Volts were large enough to carry hedgehogs such as Shadow on their backs, but the newborn chick was small enough to be carried in her arms. Smelling the blood on her, the blood of the Master, the infant Black Volt imprinted on her and flapped its tiny wings, fluttering into her arms. "Aw," she cooed. "Aren't you just a sweet little thing… Not like your brothers. I'll call you Birdie." Cradling the Black Volt chick against her chest, which it rather enjoyed, she tore out of the comet's depths to seek out Shadow and return the Black Comet to the sky.
"Maria, what do you think you're DOING?!" Shadow's shout was so loud it actually echoed. Leaving off cringing, she explained, "Its name is Birdie and it thinks I'm either its mother or Black Doom… I'm not sure which yet. Either way, it seems to like me a lot." 'Birdie' gave a squawk at that, no longer shivering against Maria's chest. Quietly regarding the dark hedgehog, it caught his scent and came to a conclusion. He too bore the blood of the Master so he was kin, he was family, and the little Black Volt chick was delighted. Squealing happily, Birdie left Maria's arms and dove into Shadow's, cuddling up immediately. "Aw, it likes you." Shadow had to admit that the infant alien was acting absurdly cute. "Anyway, I was thinking we should put that comet back in the sky and return it to its old orbit." Shadow responded, "And why shouldn't we just destroy it?" Thinking for a moment, Maria said, "The Black Arms are dead, save for Birdie. What more can a lump of rock do to us? Besides, I think Tails will be heartbroken if the comet he discovered goes missing. No, I say let it keep orbiting Earth. Every time we see it, we can feel proud that we eradicated a threat to the world, just the two of us."
Putting the little chick down, both Shadow and Maria underwent the transformation again, once again becoming Hyper Shadow and Angel. Flying up, they laid their hands upon the Black Comet's rough exterior and proclaimed as one, "Chaos Control!" An instant later they were in space, hanging high above the world. "If we fling it this way it'll be on its old course, and at the same speed too." On the count of three they pushed very carefully and the comet was off. Nothing more needed saying as they returned to where they had been before and reverted, the unclaimed Chaos Crystals once again scattering. "Let's go home, Shadow," Maria said happily. She had fulfilled her duty. Once again picking up the Black Volt chick, she added, "I think Birdie might be hungry." The infant alien squawked assent. "All right," Shadow said. "Ready to Chaos Control home?" Maria nodded. "I sure am!" Birdie cheeped too. "Chaos Control!" They warped away together, heading home. All that remained in their wake were the echoing words: "I wonder what Birdie eats…"