Author's Note: This is it! And it sucked, I'm sorry. But don't hurt me, okay! I STILL THINK YOU'RE ALL AWESOME!…so yeah, I'm safe.
Enjoy the last Entry of the Last file of the Finally completed Maria Files!
File 10 This is Where it All EndsEntry 5 Suteki da Ne (Isn't it Beautiful?)
Her breathing…So slow now. She was suffocating, burning, drowning, stabbed, shot, strangled…by the power she was bottling up. Too much…too much! But she couldn't back out.
The place…was so pretty. Where was she again? Oh, that's right…here. She said to herself.
So slow now.
Everything was so lovely here. She wanted to go and see more.
So slow now.
If she could stop the pain…if she could stop the ripping…the tearing of her soul. All to pieces soon. And then she would be gone.
So slow now.
She was reaching for it. She wanted it. She could feel it.
Stopping…now.
Shadow had no idea what to do. What was Miserie doing? He couldn't get through the guards and she might be…
"…" Knuckles had been studying Shadow's passive face for a while. No one was fighting. Everyone was still. The news was so shocking, enemies were friends, friends were enemies…bodies were empty shells. Everyone was going to die, unless they figured out how to move that immense power surging up within Miserie. "…You're worried about something." Knuckles said.
"Look." Shadow said, impatiently. "I need to help her. I have to. You know what? She's probably lost right now. I'm not going to sit here and let her kill herself and everyone here. That's stupid."
"Then why don't you go?" Knuckles wondered aloud.
Shadow hung his head. "…Who knows." He couldn't fathom what he was feeling right now. It wasn't anger. Wasn't pain. He had only felt this once or twice before…
"Are you…" Knuckles waved a hand in the air, making it seem as if he were guessing. "Afraid of something?"
"Shut up." Shadow growled. Yes, that was it. Fear.
"Maybe you're afraid you can't do anything. Or afraid you'll die."
"Did you even hear me?"
"But even though you're afraid, shouldn't you at least try?…Tails says you might be able to stop her. So…"
"What part of Shut up aren't you understanding, you stupid echidna?" Shadow asked, looking at Knuckles, who was grinning knowingly.
"Are you going to try anyway?"
"You're getting on my nerves." Shadow said. But he nodded. "I'm going to kill you, you know."
"I'm waiting." Knuckles said nonchalantly.
Shadow sighed. He wasn't sure what he was afraid of. Maybe it wasn't what, but who…Nah, Shadow wasn't afraid of someone, it was something. As he slowly made his way through the guards, he wondered, Is it the sacrifice?
So slow now.
He was standing in front of Tails, who was speaking softly. Shadow had never seen the little fox look and sound so dangerous…he liked it. It made Tails seem older.
So slow now.
Past Tails to Amy. She wasn't paying much attention to anything. Her eyes were frantic, but they were moving so slowly from one person to the next, to the next, to the next…
So slow now.
Past Amy to Sonic. Sonic was staring directly at Shadow. He smirked, identical to Shadow's.
"…Funny that you want to save the world again."
"Funny that I haven't killed you yet."
Sonic laughed. "You notice something…? We keep having to work together."
"Two times. It's just a coincidence."
"Oh yeah?" Sonic asked.
"There won't be a next time." Shadow said, nodding his head.
"I'll hold you to it." Sonic said.
"What do I get if I win?" Shadow asked.
"You'll never have to see me again." Sonic said.
"I could just cover my eyes when I see you."
"Okay, what do you want?"
"If I win this…" Shadow grinned, "I get to knock off the Doctor once and for all."
"Guess we will be seeing each other again." Sonic said.
"Keep dreaming." Shadow shrugged. He started walking again.
So slow now….Stopping.
Blue, white, yellow, pale pink… Then black, red, gray, orange…Then azure, mint, peach, and lemon…Then black, navy, crimson, and marigold…
Where was she now? Heaven? Hell? Purgatory…? Somewhere else? Miserie reach out to touch the colors and they were…so cool.
Or maybe she was too hot. She couldn't tell.
Dry, it was so dry. She looked up, and she was in a blue and white and pink desert. She turned, and she was in a black, purple, and sienna forest. Where was she? The colors were confusing her. Where was she headed?
Something touched her, but she couldn't feel it well. She turned.
"…?" She looked around. Nothing? She was dragging now. The power was so heavy, she couldn't walk. She had no idea how she was standing. And then, on her shoulders, she could feel it this time. A pull.
They were pulling her away from the lovely place and through the confusing colors and back, and back… She was watching things pass her that she had never seen before. And then she realized….
The power was leaving her body.
But…That could only mean Shadow was there, and if Shadow was there… She wasn't dead yet. She was so close. On the brink. About to be torn to shreds.
Her body was limp, and power still flowed from it. She was creating it? She couldn't tell.
"Miserie?"
That voice was…?
"Maria?" She asked.
"Shadow." It responded.
"Shadow?" She asked. Faintly, she remembered… That was the same thing that happened when she first met Shadow. The same thing. Just different roles.
Shadow had touched her shoulder, felt a shock run through her system and let go. He had tried again, and successfully awoke her.
"Miserie?" He asked, looking down at her. He couldn't recognize her. Her fur was white, her eye was dull. She was looking at him, but was she seeing him? He didn't think so.
"…Maria?" She asked, and he shook his head. Wasn't that what he said to her when they had just met?
"Shadow." He told her, and her mouth twitched. She must have recognized him.
"Shadow?" She asked. Her fur was changing. It was gray now. Before, she had been so dazzlingly white. Now she was dulling like her eye was.
"Yes?" He asked calmly. He realized he was turning white now. He was draining her of the power she had just had.
"…I'm so tired." She said. She was quickly turning black. Her scar was gray.
"You're all beat up." Shadow observed, noticing that her arm was bleeding. She was still shaking and jumping.
"but you have it now." She said, as if she wasn't listening.
"It?" Shadow wondered aloud. He noticed she was almost pitch black. Her eye was glinting brightly.
"The power, right? It's the ultimate power. The ultimate power for the ultimate being." Shadow blinked. "It could be more. I could make more."
"No." Shadow said, realizing he was going to kill her if he kept sucking the power away. He turned around, where the trio he could now call- dare he say it- friends stood, waiting. There was Tails, looking more worried than ever.
"No?" She asked.
"You should sleep now. You're tired, aren't you?" He started walking towards them.
"Yes."
"Then sleep." He said. He could see Knuckles now; Sonic must have helped him over. The fourth friend.
"But…" She said, her body jerked, as if she was waking up.
"Miserie, if you don't sleep, I'll force you to sleep." He said. He was standing in front of Tails. Shadow was about to had her over to him and leave, but Miserie said, suddenly:
"Shadow?"
He looked at her. Smiling? What was this, was she planning on killing herself? "What!" He asked.
"…" She was gone. Out like a light.
Shadow watched her dull eye close. She was way past pitch black now.
"What's wrong with her?" Tails asked.
Shadow sighed. "I took it. Her power."
"Her power?"
"She's an emerald. Remember?" Shadow asked. And then, with a grimace he said, "I'm going to go beat down that fox and the Doctor."
"Wait a minute!" Sonic said. He grabbed Shadow's arm. "I've got to go too."
Shadow smirked. "Well, I can't protect you. If you die, that just means I'm better than you."
"Yeah right. When I beat Eggman, I'll make sure your coffin is delivered right to Ark."
"Hmph. Really." Shadow inspected his arm. "I'll have yours rocketed to the sun. After all, we both know I'm the one who'll beat the doctor." He said. With that, He Chaos Controlled.
Amy and Tails waited. And waited. Time was passing so slow now. Knuckles was stretching impatiently.
"So…" Amy had talked about everything she could without bordering on Miserie. But now, she was running out of topics.
"Huh?" Tails asked, looking down at Miserie.
Amy tried to think of something else. "Isn't it amazing that no one's fighting?"
Knuckles piped in. "You said that already."
"…Uh…" Amy looked at her hands.
Tails smiled. "You don't have to say anything."
"But!" Amy started to say. Miserie sat up, suddenly. Instantly, her eye opened.
"!" She said, turning her head. Amy was confused. Miserie had been completely knocked out. How was she awake?
"What's…this?" Knuckles asked.
"It's…"Miserie reach into a pocket and pulled out the purple emerald. "The power source. It's fully charged. Violet says we can take Crimson if we shut of that power source."
"No, I mean… how are you awake?" Knuckles asked. Amy nodded. Miserie just smiled.
"Power source?" Tails wondered.
"They were storing power, it said. At the bottom. Way at the bottom."
Amy looked at the guards around them, who were sitting around looking dull. Amy couldn't shake the feeling that they were listening and planning.
"What about them?" Amy asked.
Tails put Miserie down on the floor, got up, and picked her up, securing her on his back. "We have to get to the"
"Power source?" Amy glared at the voice's owner. There was Talon, smirking knowingly.
"Talon." Knuckles said, his voice loud.
"Is he real this time?" Amy wondered aloud.
Miserie rose one hand. "We don't have the time for this." She said.
Amy looked at Tails. He was seething, she could tell. His hands were clenched.
"You mean, I don't have time for this." Talon said. He jumped down, in front of Tails.
Tails' voice was soft again. "What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Talon laughed.
Miserie's eye narrowed. "…Chaos…Sphere." She said, holding her hand out in front of him. Talon was sent sprawling backwards.
"He's real!" Amy said, and she lifted her hammer. "In this case, let's kill the stupid little"
"Wait!" Knuckles and Miserie said, together.
"We can use him." Knuckles said. "To get to the power source."
Miserie nodded. "We can control him. Tails…" she whispered.
Tails looked back at Miserie. "Huh?" He asked.
"Are you mad?" She asked, her eye glinting.
"I'm…" Tails paused, looking back at Talon.
"Don't be mad at him." She told Tails. "I don't think he can help it. It's because he's retarded, isn't it?"
Amy smiled. "That's it."
Shadow glared up at the Doctor, who was looking down on them with an all knowing smile. He was atop a silvery pedestal, pressing buttons.
"Eggman!" Sonic yelled.
"Well, if it isn't Sonic!" Eggman laughed evilly. "It's high time I got rid of you once and for all! Guards!"
Shadow lifted his hand, blasting the bottom half of the pedestal away. "You're the one we're here for." He said, dangerously quiet. "You're the one who tried to kill all of us, who put Miserie in real danger… You're the one who going to be rid of…" his voice had been growing progressively louder, and now dropped back to his soft tone, "We're going to send you two doors down from hell."
Sonic pointed at Eggman, who was already flying around in his little machine. "so let's see what you've got, Eggman!"
The guards who Eggman had called for appeared, Foxes who had discarded their weapons, who were in tears, nearly. Shadow recognized them- they were the guards who were supposed to be with the four they had left behind.
Sonic whispered, "We can't fight them…"
"Yes, we can." Shadow rose his hand, with a trademark evil smirk.
"Wait a minute!" Sonic said. "They were under command of Rosemary! They don't have control of what they do!"
"Don't ever soil my name, hedgehog… Do not say it. It pains me that I should hear it from one as defiled as you." Shadow's ears perked at the sound of the voice of Tails' mother.
Sonic growled, turning to face her. "So it's you again."
Eggman pressed a button. "You won't escape! I'll kill you both!"
The guards and Rosemary jolted backwards. Screams of agony painted the walls, Shadow actually felt bad- though he didn't know why- for the poor foxes. He didn't feel bad seconds later, when they were attacking them. Rosemary ordered from above, calling out names and sections and formations, shooting tiny poisonous darts down at Sonic and Shadow.
Shadow's first thought was to protect himself, but he remembered that Sonic was there with him. All of a sudden, he decided that Sonic was the one who really needed the protection. He grabbed the blue Hedgehog's shoulder.
Sonic exploded into his Super Form, but Shadow wasn't sure why- why hadn't he done so before? Still, with Sonic in Super Sonic form, They had a fighting chance…. For a while.
"We can't hurt them!" Sonic told shadow.
Growling, Shadow whisked up half of them in a Tornado strike. "Better?"
"Yes." Sonic mimicked his actions. Still, the army wasn't down and out. Guns were risen, pointed at the two super speedy super heroes.
"…Oh…" Shadow started.
"Crap." Sonic finished.
"You have to trust me, I swear, I'm telling the truth this time!" Talon yelled.
"BS." Amy said, rolling her eyes.
Knuckles, who was dragging along behind Amy, who was keeping Talon in line by slamming her hammer into his kneecap when he tried to escape, said, "Are we near it yet?"
"I won't tell you!" Talon yelled.
"I guess we can just kill him." Miserie sighed. All four creatures stared at her.
"…Are you Miserie?" Tails wondered.
She looked down at him and winked. Tails widened his eyes. He realized that she was playing a game, just trying to scare Talon into telling the truth. "You're serious." He mumbled.
"Of course I'm serious." Miserie said. Tails looked over at Talon. The hazel fox was shivering like a leaf in the wind.
Amy grinned. "I am all for this idea."
Knuckles started, "Well…"
"Come on, Knuckles…" Tails said. "We don't need him anyway."
"You're right. Let's kill him."
"No! No, please! I don't wanna die!" Talon cried, big tears leaking out of his eyes.
"Gonna tell us where the power source is?" Amy asked, a smirk crossing her face.
"Yes, okay? I'll tell you!" Talon said, and Tails looked up at Miserie, who held a hand up over her mouth. She was laughing, her trick had worked.
"So are we close?" Knuckles wondered.
"Yes! We're really close!" Talon exclaimed.
"Don't try anything FUNNY, Talon. We'll kill you." Amy said, using the threat casually. Talon nodded, and Tails heard his audible gulp.
Sonic and Shadow could dodge the bullets, thanks to their speed, but Eggman had expected that, creating bullets that twisted in mid-air.
Sonic was having a problem. Even as Super Sonic, he was barely able to see the twisting movement of the bullets. Shadow was the one saving him, Shadow's ultimate form allowed him to see, Sonic figured, all the bullets whizzing around them.
Eggman's sinister laughed made Sonic get even more pissed off. He didn't know what he would do, but he had to get Eggman!
And suddenly, everything pieced itself together. Because he knew the secret to beating Eggman.
But he would need time. Lots of it.
And time was running out.
Breathing deeply, Miserie realized how distorted her vision was. She was still critically damaged, there was no possible way she could help anymore. And all the games she had learned to play- the mind games, the hand games- the ones that Gerald had programmed over everything else, but still she had forgotten, all those were returning to her.
Little things that she had no idea she remembered, those returned. She was remembering Maria.
'You're so cute, Miserie-chan! You're like a little sister!' Maria. Miserie wasn't sure how old she was. Shadow was there too, somewhere in the background… oblivious.
'A little sister?' Miserie wondered, as Maria gently petted her fur. 'Am I your little sister?'
'Yes. You're my favorite little sister. You always will be.'
Miserie smiled as Shadow turned around. But before she could say anything, she was picked up by the professor and shuffled out of the room
…And that was the last time she was alive.
"Erie-chan?" Tails wondered aloud. She tried to focus.
"Tails?" she asked.
"You're mumbling something. Are you alright?" She could guess at the worried look her had on his face. "Do you want to rest?"
"I'll be…I'm fine." She smiled. Her energy was way down. She could barely stay awake now. If, by chance, she fell asleep, would she shut down again…? Forever?
She fought to stay awake. This sort of sleep, the kind that she was going to experience again, she wished she never had to deal with.
Just like Shadow didn't.
"Shadow…" Sonic said, as Shadow blasted past him, saving him again. "You can see the bullets, right?"
"Yeah." Shadow said, hardly paying attention.
Sonic twisted out of the way of two more bullets, and then whispered, "Do you know how to change their direction?"
Shadow didn't reply for a couple minutes. "Show me." He said, as he saved Sonic again.
Sonic grinned. "It's simple." He said. He pointed to a rally of bullets coming their way. "Like this." He flipped over, creating a barrier that turned the bullets backwards. With Tails' help, he had created this move years ago, but never found a real use for it. Of course, this was while G.U.N. was chasing him down.
Shadow widened his eyes. "If you can do that, then so can I." He said.
"Let's see it." Sonic taunted.
Shadow studied Sonic again, then copied his attack perfectly. "I told you so." He said.
"Well, can't you make a bigger one?"
Shadow paused, then did a slightly larger barrier. "Yep." He said.
"Then make the biggest one you can." Sonic said.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "I'm tired of protecting you." He commented, as he made the biggest barrier yet. Sonic dashed out towards Eggman in total safety.
"Hey Eggman!" He yelled, jumping into his trademark SpinDash. "Get Dead!"
Eggman's expression was priceless, as Sonic shot through his flying machine. The soldiers that were attacking stopped.
Rosemary suddenly fell over, catching herself before she hit the ground. A shock pulsed through her system, one, two, three times, causing her to cry out. Some of the other officers and cadets were doing the same. Everyone's eyes were riveted upon Rosemary, however.
"Your majesty!" One of the foxes gasped.
The room was silent. Sonic could hear nothing. The silence deafened him.
Shadow suddenly spoke up. "What was that." He said, more a statement than a question. "Why did they stop attacking."
Sonic shrugged his shoulders, but Shadow wasn't paying attention to him. He was cornering Eggman. Step by step, Shadow's usually small form seemed to grow larger and larger.
"…What was it, Doctor?" he asked, his voice low. "Exactly what did you do?"
Eggman was backing up, muttering things.
"…What's that?" Shadow asked. His voice rose. "What did you do to them?"
Eggman was in a corner. Shadow was looming over him.
"Well?" Shadow's voice was only a murmur in the otherwise silent room.
Eggman was frantically pressing a button, but the remote he was trying to activate was failing. Sonic smirked. This was coming out interesting.
Shadow snatched the remote away, crushing it in his hand. "I don't show mercy, you know." Shadow said.
Sonic snorted. 'When it comes to Miserie…' He thought.
Eggman spoke up. "Do you think you've won, Shadow?"
And then the lights went out.
Amy was relieved when she found them right in front of the power core.
"Finally!" She said. Knuckles, who had long since collapsed on his weakened knees, was propping himself up with her hammer. Tails was keeping Miserie, who looked very tired, busy with nonsensical chatter. Talon was practically crying. Amy had been prodding him along with her fingers.
"How do we stop the power core?" Miserie asked. Amy noted her fleeting voice. She sounded much more mechanical, like Omega had. She still had the adorable voice, but…
Talon crossed his arms. "You don't." He said, confidently.
Miserie rose her hand. "Why don't we kill him now?" She asked.
Talon shook his head. "I knew that was a bluff. I'm not dumb." He said.
"Oh?" Amy wondered, gently taking her hammer back from Knuckles. "I was kinda hoping you'd see it our way."
"Yeah right." Talon laughed. "If you destroy this power core, you'll kill Shadow and Sonic. Do you want to do that?"
Miserie's eyes widened. "If the power core is destroyed, the area will collapse?"
Talon nodded. "You've got it. Now you're really cornered. By the time you get back upstairs, everyone will be dead meat. Including you. You'll be passing upstairs on your way to heaven."
Tails bared his teeth, but said nothing. Miserie pointed her finger at the core.
"I'll turn it off." She said, softly.
Amy jerked her head from Miserie to Talon. His emotion hardly changed.
"You're willing to kill Shadow?" He wondered. "You really are one of us."
Knuckles opened his mouth and angrily responded; "She's nothing like"
"No." She said, suddenly. "I'm tired. I'm going to shut off soon. I might as well use this energy to put this thing away for good."
Talon widened his eyes. "What?"
"If Shadow is energized with the power… then he can escape. And besides… " She looked at Knuckles and Amy, "We have to power to leave this area, maybe with a few scratches, but alive."
Talon glared at her. "So you're okay with killing all the people who can't escape up there?"
"…You started this mess." Miserie said, slowly. "You clean it up. If you don't want them to die, then stop me. By all means, turn me off again."
Tails looked surprised. "Miserie!" He cried.
She ignored him, her arm extended, her index finger pointing at the power core and her eyes riveted on Talon.
"…" Talon seemed to be calculating. "Well!" He said. "You might think you're one step ahead, but you're not." He laughed. "Rosemary can teleport without using any energy. So she'll still be alive. And some of our majors can too."
Miserie did not respond. Slowly, she turned her head, looking at the power core. Amy was frozen in her spot. Was she going to do it?
Miserie didn't seem to be showing any emotion at all. Her face was stony, mechanical, not moving. But she could see, leaking out of her eye, a trail of blood. Was she bleeding…? No…
Miserie was crying.
Amy wanted to say something. She tried. Paralyzed. Tails was the only one who didn't seem to be struck by this certain case of paralysis.
"Talon. You can stop this. You can go up there and fix this." Tails said, looking up at Miserie. "She's going to do it. And everyone you know is going to die."
Talon said nothing.
In the silence, one drop of blood hit the ground with a plopping noise.
"…Chaos…" Miserie said, as a ball of energy formed at the end of her finger.
"…" Talon closed his eyes.
Knuckles was suddenly revived from his paralysis. "NO!" He yelped. Her attention did not divert.
"Miserie!" Tails cried.
Amy was finally out of it too. "Don't do it!" she cried.
"Sphere!" The ball was gone. Miserie's eye dulled completely. Amy watched her body go entirely limp.
Then the room was pitch black.
The room began to quake. Shadow looked around at all the foxes, standing up and cursing and some of them crying.
Sonic was suddenly with him. "…I think they were under some sort of mind control."
Shadow moved slightly, still trapping Eggman in the corner. He had a funny feeling, but he couldn't quite place it. This darkness was impending doom.
"We need to get out of here." He said, to Sonic.
"A giant Chaos Control…" Sonic wondered aloud. "Would it work?"
"I think so." Shadow said. He looked around. "But some of them couldn't be saved by a hedgehog."
Sonic's eyes followed Shadow's right to Rosemary. Her hatred for hedgehogs dragged right through whatever she had just gone through. Shadow could recognize well placed curses being mumbled in a murmuring stream from her mouth.
"What do we do?" Sonic wondered. The shaking increased.
Shadow grimaced. "As Much as I hate this, I'll save these stupid idiots. You go find Miserie and the other guys."
Sonic nodded. He turned away for a couple seconds, then said, "You really aren't all that bad, Shadow."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it." Shadow said. He looked over his shoulder at Sonic, who grinned.
"I won't." Sonic promised. He disappeared.
Shadow turned his attention back to the doctor. "Explain. Fast."
The doctor smirked. "It's just a simple mind control chip. I planted them in the highest of ranks. They radiate from them to the smaller units. Still, you can't stop them. Reinforcements surround us. You won't leave alive."
"YOU won't leave alive." Shadow said, shaking his head. "me, I'm outta here unless you tell me what's going on."
The doctor looked at the crumbling citdael. "The power source has been shorted. It'll destroy the whole area, burying all of us."
"Whose dumb idea was THAT?" Shadow wondered.
The doctor looked angrily at Shadow. "Well, I usually get away with this stuff."
"Yeah, well, tough luck this time. Sonic destroyed your escape route."
"Yeah, right." The doctor said. He laughed. "Do you really think I wouldn't have a second escape route?"
"…" Shadow narrowed his eyes. "So tell me." He said. "What was the point of the ship in the forest?"
"What was the point!" The doctor laughed. "I was trying to kill you! And you know, it almost worked, if you hadn't figured it out. Metal Sonic Beta didn't work out as planned, so I placed him in my shoes- he was a puppet. All I had to do was control him, and I could kill you. And lucky for me, that little harebrained fox was there, and she told me everything I need to know. Then I decided to kill you, but she figured that out too."
Shadow cringed as the foxes joined together in the room, forming a close circle around the Shadow and the doctor, pieces of the ceiling falling and crashing, killing a few foxes. "So all this was never supposed to happen."
"When dealing with you and Sonic, all my plans have been foiled." The doctor said, sarcastically. "I made sure I had the perfect place to kill you… and bury you too. Of course, all your friends came too. This makes it even more… evil."
Shadow knew they couldn't stay inside for too much longer. "Save yourself." He muttered. He pushed the foxes who were trembling in his path out of his way, and roughly grabbed Rosemary's arm. When she tried to pull away, he growled, "consider it a civic duty. I could leave you here to die."
"Then do it!" She hissed.
Shadow glared at her. "I said I could. I'm not going to. Tails can deal with you. You're his mother anyway." He focused on the entire room, then murmured, "Chaos Control!"
Sonic found his three friends and Talon panicking over Miserie.
"She killed them! She killed them!" Talon was screaming.
"SHUT UP, TALON!" Knuckles cried, punching a huge slab of concrete into oblivion.
"Miserie! Miserie!" Tails was shaking the limp, fallen girl, who was lying on the floor.
"Guys! Snap out of it! Knuckles, watch out!" Amy cried, ordering the group around while frantically looking around. "Sonic!" She cried, as her eyes found his. "You're okay! Where's Shadow? Why isn't he here? Are you sure you're okay?"
Sonic nodded. "I'm okay." He said. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Tails wasn't listening. "Come on, Miserie, snap out of it!"
"…She's gone." Amy told Sonic. "She used up the last of her energy to destroy that." Amy pointed at a sparking machine.
"Owch." Sonic said. "Look. This whole building will collapse. We have to go."
Amy rattled out orders, calling the ragtag group together. Holding on to each other, they disappeared in a bright white light.
Shadow watched the Building crumble from outside.
"You'll pay for this!" He heard the trademark statement from behind him.
"Whatever." Shadow dropped Rosemary and stalked off.
In front of his eyes, Sonic appeared with their group of friends. "Shadow- are they safe?" Sonic wondered.
"Yeah, they're okay." Shadow said. "I should have left them in there."
Tails looked up at Shadow with watery eyes. "…Miserie's gone." He said.
Shadow blinked his ruby eyes. "Are you saying you left her in there, or she was killed?" Amy produced a limp Miserie. Shadow rolled his eyes. "Just ran out of energy?" He asked. "What are you worried about? She can be fixed."
"Fixed?" Tails sounded horrified.
"Not THAT fixed." Shadow had no idea what Tails was referring to, but though it had something to do with gender changing, "I mean she's not like you guys. She gave me her life energy. So right now, it's like she's on standby."
"Stand-by…?" Amy wondered.
"You know, like a computer. We just need to give her some life again." Shadow took Miserie from Amy.
His white dulled to his normal color, black. Miserie brightened up, and the faded back to a black color. She opened her eyes, all the life back in them.
"…Am I dead, or am I dreaming?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. "Hi Shadow!" She said cheerily, seeing Shadow. "I guess I was dreaming. I had a horrible nightmare."
"Dreaming?" Shadow laughed.
"Sure didn't feel like a dream." Knuckles rubbed his sore legs.
Tails grinned. "That was as real as real could be!"
Miserie jumped out of Shadow's arms. "Was it?" She wondered. She looked over at Talon. "…Oh." She narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here? Why are you even alive?"
Shadow grinned. "Exactly my thoughts." He said.
"Will you both stop trying to kill people!" Sonic yelled. Quieting down, he said, "Right now, Tails, you have to talk with your mother. And, uh, Knuckles, where's the Master Emerald?"
"OH CRAP!" Knuckles dove into the rubble. Amy hefted her hammer and sighed.
"I'll go bash rocks to pieces." She said.
"We'll help. Right Talon?" Sonic asked. Talon, whose eyes were wide with fear, agreed. "And what about you, Shadow?"
"Why do I have to help?"
"Come on. Consider it a civic duty."
"Funny you should say that." Shadow grumbled, following the troop to save the Master Emerald.
Tails looked at Miserie. "Guess that leaves us."
"You want to talk to her now… your mother?"
"…I…" Tails looked over at his mother.
"If you don't, you'll regret it. You'll keep wondering what she would have said. Won't you?" Miserie asked, putting her hand on his. "Won't you, Tails?"
"…Yeah, I guess." He nodded.
"Then let's go. Let's go speak with your mother."
Tails took a deep breath, looked at Miserie, and smiled. "Yeah. Let's go talk to my mom."
The Maria Files… Complete.
A/N AWWW IT WAS HORRIBLE DON'T WRITE TO ME, I'M HIDEOUS! –cries-