Shadow of a Hedgehog
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My footsteps echo in the hallway. The entire place is totally deserted... Well, obviously. It was shut down over fifty years ago.
I'm talking about Space Colony ARK, of course.
It gives me the creeps here, to be by myself. So quiet, empty... dusty. It's as if everything here is frozen in time.
And I'm all alone. I think.
It feels like someone's watching me. It's a very unnerving sensation...
I clutched the green Chaos Emerald in my hand a little tighter.
Did this place actually have people living in it before? A long time ago, I guess.
I know Shadow used to live here. Him... and that girl, and Eggman's grandfather.
Shadow's the entire reason I'm here. I came here to do a little... research.
I know by now that he's probably gone for good. All of us do. He's probably in a better place, somewhere that could offer him more happiness than Earth ever could...
But that doesn't really make us feel any better.
Rouge actually got into the government's files and got some information. She's some kind of government agent, does some spying for the President, so it wasn't all that hard for her. Turns out that a military organization called G.U.N., the same dudes who were chasing me that first day, found Shadow in the middle of a crater and the remains of some sort of space capsule. They captured him, something about an escape from ARK. Sounds like they were trying to take over the space colony and Shadow escaped.
But that's still not enough information. Really? Where did he come from? And who was that Maria girl?
I was thinking this as I stumbled into another, new room.
File cabinets all along the walls. If I want information, this is probably the place.
I didn't know where to start. So I just grabbed something at random and looked at it.
It's pictures of a little girl. And a whole lot of notes.
Whoo. This thing's dated a long time ago, more than sixty years.
The girl's name is Maria Robotnik...
She's really young in these pictures. She doesn't look so healthy either... something I can't imagine. I hardly ever get sick... so it's hard to see other people like that.
This thing says she's got something called "NIDS." Neuro immunodeficiency syndrome. It says that it's "incurable..."
Let's see... "... due to a genetic mutation, Maria's immune system became shut down... any small microorganism could cause severe illness and possibly...
"... death"...?
Hmm... "Maria was sent to the new Space Colony ARK... she should be safe from all the dangers that Earth presents"?
Shoot... this is Tails' specialty. Whatever. I threw the folder back on the table and grabbed another one.
"Project Shadow," huh? Sounds right.
But it's not. It's that Biolizard creep. Or rather, all the experiments that came before it. They all died because of lack of energy.
What's this? "... decided to use Chaos Emeralds as an energy source... should attempt to use life-support device on next try..."
What is he doing all this for?
... oh.
"Hopefully... experiments... immortality studies will pay off... cure Maria..."
Cure Maria? Sounds like she was the cause for all of this.
Okay... let me think. This Maria girl had some kind of disease in which her brain shut off her immune system, and now the crazy professor is doing "immortality studies" in order to cure it? And he's trying to create this "ultimate life form" to do it?
There's pictures of lizards, lizards, more lizards... no hedgehogs...
Another journal entry. "I feel that perhaps lizards and other reptilians do not handle Chaos Energy very well, regardless of what the legends say of the 'god of destruction's' appearance... I will have to look for another form. In the meantime, the prototype 'ultimate life form,' termed 'Biolizard,' meaning 'life,' is doing well under a life-support system. Unfortunately, it has not reacted well to the power of the Chaos Emeralds..."
I gave up on that folder. Nothing.
It seems like these folders and cabinets are all organized by date... I'll have to just keep looking.
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In a folder that occurred about a year or two later, I finally found something on hedgehogs.
"Hedgehogs seem to react well to Chaos Energy... I will try to use a hedgehog form for the next experiment..."
Of course. So where's Shadow?
I keep browsing through the files... but it seems like the latest ones in the experiment are missing...
So I left the room and walked down the hall some more.
This is so creepy. I even thought I saw blood or something in one of the escape pod rooms.
Oh boy. Where is this?
It's a... it's a lab. And there's a great view of Earth from the window.
I walked over and looked. But I stopped, since it really felt like someone was watching me there.
So I went on to the next room.
And stood dead still.
This was an actual lab.
Now, I'm not a guy to be scared easily, but... it was so... sick...
Huge, glass tubes sticking up along the walls. And it looked like someone had recently (well, maybe not recently... a while ago, but not fifty years) had wiped some of the dust off...
Floating in the tanks, frozen in time, were all of the failed experiments.
Well, not all of them. It couldn't have been all of them. There were too many listed in the journals.
But... lizards. Red lizards, everywhere. Some of them looked absolutely disgusting. Some didn't have any eyes.
Then again, the Biolizard didn't have any eyes, either.
Some of these lizards looked just like the Biolizard. Only smaller. Much smaller.
I did see a door at the other end of the room. I kind of hustled out of there.
Then one of the containers got my attention.
A baby hedgehog.
Just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, brown-colored baby hedgehog.
But it was there, floating in the glass tube.
Beside it was a folder. The hedgehog was labeled "S-H07."
The journal entry read, "The hedgehog was the latest experiment with Chaos Energy. Unfortunately, while it handled Chaos Energy well, it absorbed too much and destroyed its own internal body."
I dropped the folder and stared at the small, frozen figure.
It was frozen in time. It must have barely had any kind of life before it was ended. And it hadn't even lived long enough to choose its own fate.
It was a failed experiment. Just another number, statistic in the professor's files.
Was Shadow something like that? Just another experiment?
But Shadow lived.
I walked a little faster. This place was starting to truly agitate me...
Even as things passed by me in a blur, I still saw the 'failed experiments.'
Hedgehogs, lizards, in various stages of their lives. All different colors, sizes, shapes...
As I got further to the door, the experiments showed changes, all the same changes.
I figured they were all in chronological order. It seemed that as the professor got better at his experiments, the hedgehogs and lizards seemed to be different...
Black and red. There was a lot of black and red.
Shadow was black and red. The Biolizard was black and red.
Tails told me a long time ago that black and red are warning colors. It was like the experiments had gotten more powerful.
There were yet more hedgehogs. But they were older than the earlier ones.
But not by much.
There were some that were a little bit like Shadow. Black fur, red stripes...
They were all so young. Maybe seven, eight years old.
And they'd all died because of an overload of Chaos Energy.
A few showed signs of almost going Super... slight silver highlights.
But never any further.
There wasn't anything wrong with them on the outside... for all I knew, they could have been asleep. Just sleeping... for an eternity. They looked almost peaceful...
... some. Some had pain written on their faces... some looked sad, even in death...
I had to get out of here.
I was almost at the door when I found a huge stack of folders. Like someone had been looking through them. I just grabbed the stack and got out of the abandoned lab.
I was back in the room with the view of Earth. And I couldn't help it, but my heart was pounding. Not that I was scared... more like... shocked. Disgusted.
Where did the professor get all those hedgehogs? Were they clones or something? Had they been like... me? I pressed a hand to my head, trying to stop the pounding, trying to calm down...
To get my mind off this, I flipped open a folder quickly.
And found what I had been looking for.
At the beginning, the folder was labeled S-H- something.
But it changed.
There were a lot more journal entries in this one. I picked up the first and scanned it.
"This is the first time an experiment has successfully lived after being exposed to large amounts of Chaos Energy. Instead of harming itself, the hedgehog appeared to absorb the energy. For a brief second, its fur appeared to change colors... but it could have been an illusion."
Out dropped a photograph. I couldn't help but laugh.
Shadow. Most definitely a baby Shadow.
I cracked up.
Him? The "Ultimate Life Form"?
A baby?
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After a few more folders (most of which just contained observations on the professor's part of Shadow's reactions to Chaos Energy) I started to find some very interesting facts...
"Maria has recently found and befriended the hedgehog. She insists on naming it 'Shadow,' after the 'Project Shadow' I am working on. Although I do hope to finish my work on the hedgehog, I also currently have my hands full with the prototype Ultimate Life Form. I think the hedgehog (or 'Shadow,' as I now have to call it) would be able to protect Maria and keep her company while I am working..."
Along with that junk, there were some more photos too.
Shadow. Lots and lots of Shadow. And Maria. Maria was in half the photos that Shadow was.
It was interesting though... There were pictures of a kid Shadow doing things I'd never expect him to do. Having fun, for instance. Smiling.
Maria looked like a nice girl. Kind of pretty. She'd always have this small smile on her face in the photos... but she looked sad, too...
As I looked at the photos, I really couldn't help but wonder.
Shadow used to be a kid, just like anyone else. But what made him so serious when he grew up...? From these photos, it looked like he enjoyed being with Maria, playing with Maria, grinding on rails that the professor had built for him, all sorts of kid things. But when I knew him, all he wanted was revenge...
As I flipped through the folders, a blue composition notebook fell out. I picked it up.
It was a diary, by Maria. A lot of it had to do with Shadow and with Earth.
"Shadow is my best friend. He's a hedgehog. Grandpa created him. He's going to be the ultimate life form when he grows up. He's very little, but I don't know how old he is because I don't know when he was born. He has jet shoes that Grandpa made for him. He's kind of quiet sometimes but he likes to talk to me too..."
Shadow was her best friend? Hard to imagine Shadow being anybody's friend.
But then again... he was falling to Earth...
... I heard him say...
"Maria... this is right..."
Maria was his friend. Shadow was her friend.
I shook my head. I had to go on.
There was also an explanation as to why Shadow had never been to Earth before.
"... I can't go to Earth. Grandpa says that there's too many things that would make me sick there. He says it's better for me to stay on ARK with him and Shadow. But he brings Shadow and me things from Earth, like this notebook. He bought Shadow grind plates, to put on his shoes so that he can stand on railings and slide down them. It's called 'grinding.' Grandpa thought that would be fun for him, because boys on Earth are doing it. Grandpa has even built railings all over ARK now! But everything has to be sterilized first. That's so the germs from Earth won't make me sick. Grandpa said that someday, when I get better, he'll take me and Shadow to Earth. Then we can meet other people and hedgehogs, just like us."
I stopped reading, because after a while it got kind of dull. I mean, really, Maria was a nice kid and all, but listening to her go on and on about Earth got a little boring after a while. I went back to the folders, but after a while I unearthed yet another notebook of Maria's, this one from a couple of years later. But it started with something a little sad...
"Shadow is different now. A few days ago, Grandpa took him into his laboratory. He's almost finished with that Biolizard that he's been working on for years now, and he wants to finish his 'other experiment,' Shadow. Grandpa did more experiments and testing on Shadow, and now he's immortal or something. Grandpa says that this will help me get better, but I don't see how. But now Shadow is different, like he's all grown up already. I think this is the first time that he's realized that he is an experiment, just like the Biolizard, and it's like it's changed how he thinks. I can't believe Grandpa messed around with his DNA... Why would he do something like that? Shadow is a little sad about it too..."
Was that it? Was that the entire reason that he'd become so serious? By the date on this, he was only about twelve... In the newer photos, he still looked like he was growing... but he did look a little different.
As I looked through the folder, it showed Shadow growing really quickly... then it stopped. Completely stopped. And the Shadow in the pictures was the same Shadow that I'd known. Almost.
Shadow started looking normal again. He was smiling. He wasn't just an experiment. He had a friend. Maria. He didn't let the fact that he was immortal bother him...
Maria even wrote, "Everything is better now. I talked to Shadow about it. We agreed that we'll forget about it. Everything is the same. The same way that I have to be careful of germs, he is going to live forever. He promised me that he'll take care of my family in the future, like me..."
He was still the Shadow that Maria had known. He was still happy. He didn't want revenge. He wasn't worried about anything. He was the same.
Finally, in the last folder, a journal entry by the professor proclaimed, "Shadow the Hedgehog is a complete success. Not only has he manipulated the power of the Chaos Emeralds safely and effectively, and lived to be a healthy, strong specimen, he has exceeded all expectations in that he has bonded with a human, my granddaughter Maria, and shown healthy emotions and friendship."
I shut the folders and put them back in order.
I knew about Shadow. I knew enough.
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Wait... no.
As I started to leave the room, I paused and looked back at the folders.
And it hit me.
I was wrong. I didn't know Shadow.
Didn't know him at all.
I walked back to that last folder I'd read and opened it.
Yes... that was Shadow.
But it wasn't the Shadow that I knew.
Or thought I knew.
The Shadow in the pictures, in the reports, in the files was a healthy, happy hedgehog.
Then who was the Shadow that I knew?
The files depicted a serious, quiet, but happy and contented hedgehog. He had grown up early... but was forever at one age, never getting any older.
But the Shadow that had come to Earth in search of revenge was different. He was still serious and quiet... but not happy.
The opposite of happy.
He was angry. Angry at Earth.
I didn't know anything. And now, I still didn't.
I sat down again.
Shadow...
I remembered looking it up in a dictionary on Earth. One of the definitions was 'an imperfect copy.'
Shadow wasn't a copy. He was himself.
I think.
What happened to the Shadow that was frozen for fifty years? What happened fifty years ago that changed him?
Shadow...
The "Shadow" I knew was only a shadow of himself.
I wish I could have known the real Shadow.
I stood up and walked around ARK. This was all so confusing.
I thought when I came up here to do a little research that it would be simple. Come, find out, leave.
But it wasn't. Kind of like Shadow himself. Way too complicated.
I don't think we'll ever know.
After all... no one really knows what happened fifty years ago.
I held the Chaos Emerald and said those two words...
"Chaos Control!"
A green flash of light...
And I'm back on Earth.
The Earth that Shadow sacrificed himself protecting.
I stare up at the dark blue sky, since it's night already.
"I guess..." I say to it, "you're just one of those mysteries that never will be solved."
I left, headed wherever I felt like it.
"Sayonara... Shadow the Hedgehog."
I only knew a shadow of the hedgehog.
But... now that he's with Maria...
... maybe he's happy now.
And he's the way he was before.
I ran off.
"Sayonara... Shadow the Hedgehog.
"... the real Shadow."
As I ran, it still felt like I was being watched.
By what? Who knows.
Who knows what kind of things might watch you at night.
The wind whistled through my ears...
And it seemed to say...
"Someday... you'll know."
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Author's Note: Since I first wrote this, back in '03, both I and FanFiction . Net have changed greatly. As a result, I decided to come back and re-format and re-edit this story. Some things changed, mainly because my view on Project Shadow have, also.
In addition, after leaving this story at a semi-cliffhanger, I ended up writing quite a few additions and branched into other points of view, leading up to my "Shadow of..." series.
Anyway, thank you very much for reading!