Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.
A/N: For anyone who wonders, yes, people are wrapped in Saran Wrap when they're burned all over, because if your skin is dead you lose heat quickly. Also, you can see through plastic wrap, so you can monitor the burn without exposing it... that's what I figured, anyway.
As soon as Sonic reached a nearby hospital, he was momentarily glad of Shadow's burned state. Black as he was, it didn't make much difference if some fur was singed or not.
But with every bad thing comes a good one... and the other way around.
Shadow's burns were not as serious as they might have been, for his Super form let out an aura of energy that protected him. But the heat from the friction of the upper atmosphere had still reached scorching temperatures.
In most places, Shadow had almost third-degree burns... enough to burn almost all the way through his skin.
Sonic and Tails were shocked at this.
The nurses and doctors rushed Shadow immediately into the burn ward.
~*~
Shadow was quickly washed, then wrapped in plastic wrap. He was given several IVs. Then the doctors gave him some painkillers and let him rest for a while.
When all was clear, the window to Shadow's room opened.
Shadow was still unconscious. He shivered at the cool air that entered the room.
A shadow fell across him.
Rouge.
She sucked her breath in quickly, as she gazed in horror at the singed flesh.
But... this had to be done.
She walked up to the still figure.
She knew better than to take the plastic wrap off the area... no need for him to get infected. She pulled out a small notebook and reviewed her previous notes.
"...take damage... regenerate lost limbs..." She swallowed at the last note.
"...heal itself."
She looked at Shadow, with surprisingly gentle eyes, even for herself.
"For your sake..."
She looked at the small photos, pasted into her notes.
Biolizard...
Professor Gerald Robotnik...
"...I hope... I hope you and the Biolizard had... at least... similar planning."
She gritted her teeth and looked back at Shadow.
"Once all that dead stuff's off... I think you'll be just fine."
She headed toward the window slowly. As she left, she couldn't help throwing a harsh remark at him.
"...and then, I'll find out if you're the real Shadow..."
She stood on the windowsill and flew out, just as the doctors came in to check on Shadow.
They gaped in amazement as they saw Shadow opened his eyes wearily, stare at the window, and say...
"...real Shadow?"
He passed out again.
~*~
For the next two days, the doctors continued to be mystified.
During the routine of scraping off the dead skin and fur, the staff was finding new skin, even in areas that there had been barely any, growing incredibly quickly. Within one day, half his burn damage was gone.
At night, Rouge continued to come to the window to take notes.
Healing quickly lessened Shadow's pain. The burns still ached all over his body... but the worst was over.
His feet had not been severely burned. His shoes had taken most of the heat. His shoes, almost half melted, had been thrown away from the beginning.
Likewise, his hands had been saved from major damage from his gloves, which had fallen to ashes soon after he arrived on Earth.
The only surviving piece of clothing that remained were his wristbands. Sonic had specifically asked for those.
Shadow had been dressed in a piece of clothing that resembled a very large gauze bandage. His fur had yet to grow back sufficiently.
The head doctor had spoken to Tails, who had more knowledge (and a longer attention span) than Sonic.
The doctor said, "It's completely astonishing... he came in with second and almost third-degree burns, and in a matter of days it's already healing..." He shook his head. "It's stupified all the staff. When he came in, we were talking skin grafts... but it's almost no longer needed." He smiled. "Not to mention, he's the best patient we've had! Doesn't complain, doesn't whine about anything!"
Tails scratched his head. "Well... but he's unconscious, still."
The doctor smiled even wider. "So? It's a lucky break."
~*~
Rouge studied Shadow carefully for the next two days, adding up to a total of four that Shadow had stayed in the burn ward.
She had almost run straight back to the government with her observations...
...and realized that she couldn't.
"Project Shadow..." she growled, somewhere between anger and sadness. "Project Shadow, and Shadow the Hedgehog is the only one left."
An Ultimate Life Form prototype.
A key to immortality.
If anything, Shadow was an example of it.
An organism that could take damage, heal itself, regenerate lost limbs... and reproduce... by itself...
(...she'd crossed that one off...)
...but... an immortal.
Her research had even shown Professor Robotnik against studies for immortality.
Until Maria was born.
From birth, she had always been weak...
...and her disease...
...a disease that destroyed her immune system.
It was all clear now, why ARK had been in space rather than on Earth.
In space, nothing could survive...
...not germs, even.
ARK likely had a sterilization chamber for those who entered.
And all for Maria...
She sighed.
Nothing could survive in space.
Until she'd seen it with her own eyes.
Sonic, Shadow, and FinalHazard... all fighting... outside ARK... in space.
The FinalHazard had not been immortal...
...but it had a glaring weakness. Its support system.
Shadow didn't have a support system.
Could he... could he be...?
And even Super Sonic. Able to be in space, immortal... for a time.
Rouge thought she knew what it was that kept them alive.
The Chaos Emeralds.
The Chaos Emeralds had an unlimited supply of power within them.
And Sonic and Shadow had tapped into it.
But it wasn't just hedgehogs. On the way back to Earth, she and Knuckles had gotten into a conversation...
She lightly blushed...
...Knuckles had claimed to having gone Super before. But, since he lived in such solitude on Angel Island, his only mission in life was to guard the Master Emerald... so a Super form was rarely needed.
...but the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds were so close together, in frequencies and wavelengths...
Or, as Knuckles would have put it, in power. The Chaos Emeralds had unlimited energy... but the single Master Emerald could stop them.
Maybe... maybe Knuckles had the answers that she needed.
Answers about the Chaos Emeralds.
About immortality, even...
...could Chaos Energy make one immortal?
She flew towards Angel Island.
~*~
Knuckles looked up as Rouge walked towards him. He didn't do anything except stare, trying to stare coldly but failing miserably.
"...hi," Rouge said, trying to get a conversation started.
"...hi."
The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments.
Rouge decided to just get to the point. "Do Chaos Emeralds grant immortality?"
Knuckles stared at Rouge. "What... why?"
Rouge slammed her notebook down in front of Knuckles. "If I tell you what I think... and you read that, you have to swear to never speak a word of it to anyone... not even Sonic or anyone else," she muttered.
"...fine." Knuckles gingerly picked up Rouge's notes. He lightly read over them. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Reproducing asexually?"
Rouge snatched her notes back. "Oh, you know not that one!"
Knuckles shrugged. "I don't know... I suppose the Chaos Emeralds do grant immortality... but only for a time," he said.
Rouge nodded. "Do you think... if something had Chaos Energy all the time... would that make it infinitely immortal?" Knuckles shrugged again.
"Maybe."
Rouge waved an arm in the air. "Does it sound familiar to any... echidna legends or something that you know about?"
Knuckles replied, "Nothing that I'd know. Parents left when I was little."
"Anything?"
"The only way that I can think of would be... maybe... oh, living beyond death, I guess."
"What?" Rouge listened intently.
"Well... like, if you were permanently in a Super form, never going back... so, yeah, having the power of the Chaos Emeralds, you could live beyond death. Never die... or..." he added after some thought, "...be a ghost... something like that. I knew an echidna, a while ago. Her name was Tikal, and she and this creature named Chaos had been sealed in the Master Emerald for about 2000 years. When the Emerald was shattered, they were both released... only, Tikal was a spirit. Chaos was still alive."
"And this Chaos... it had the power of the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Yeah."
Rouge absorbed this new information. She turned to leave. "Thank you," she said quietly, then took off.
Knuckles leaned gently on the Master Emerald and watched her leave. "...see ya," he said to no one in particular.
A/N: Some of the information here was taken from "The Truth About Project Shadow," which can be found on the Project Shadow website (or the Wishes Are Eternal website, which has nothing to do with this fanfic. I kind of freaked when I found out about the site!) This includes the theory that Maria was infected with an immunodeficiency disease, which makes reason for ARK to be in space, rather than on Earth, and that the Ultimate Life Form prototype was able to regenerate lost limbs, heal itself, take damage, and reproduce asexually (the Biolizard is shown to do all of these things, except regenerate lost limbs. The "reproduce asexually" part is the pink eggs that you Homing Attack on.)
All this is put in the form of a report by Rouge, on Project Shadow. Whether this is reliable or not is up to the reader, really... Supposedly it was cut out of the English language version. So the only real way to know is to get the Japanese language version.
A last note: It also states in "The Truth About Project Shadow" that Rouge believes that Shadow is a clone. She says that the original Shadow the Hedgehog died on impact, but someone found him and cloned him. Although it doesn't really fit into the storyline, it is an interesting thought (for example, Sonic could be a genetically altered clone of Shadow...)
Also, on "immortal": the dictionary definition is "exempt from death." However, as used in an example such as Super Sonic, he is immortal, but only while his rings last. (Please note that there is a difference between "immortal" and "eternal youth." The second means that you're forever young.) Therefore, one could be temporarily immortal. Shadow is described as "immortal and ageless," which implies that he is permanently immortal.
Thank you for listening to my highly-researched blabber.
-Ryuko