Memoirs of a Black Hedgehog
Chapter2
Mystery of Doctor Ageus
Shadow stood at the terminal in a daze. To be fair, this was something he would have never seen coming. According to the file he was looking at, some creature named Sonia the Hedgehog was the subject of and experiment that created the Ultimate Life-form, him. Also, the name of the subject was the same as the name for his long lost gift from Maria, a small hedgehog doll. So all in all, blankly staring at the screen was really his way of taking this well.
As his eyes traveled the blueprints and diagrams, he soon realized what the project was. He saw a pod similar to the one Rouge found him in during the time of Metal Overlord. This pod, however, had seven slots on the pod's control panel. All were big enough for…..
"A Chaos Emerald," Shadow muttered as he looked at the specks with great interest. The entire design was for a human to get in, but something decidedly not human to come out again. Shadow had a feeling this machine was what Dr. Gerald would have used to cure Maria…….at the cost of her humanity. He shook his head and continued looking at the file. It contained all of Dr. Gerald's personal research into the Black Arms physical strength and cell structure. It even included weaknesses and list on the different kinds.
"Kuh, a little late for that Professor," he said having faced down the Black Arms and defeated them earlier six months ago. That was a day of victory for earth, though really a day he found to have scattered meaning. It was that day his memories returned, mostly intact. Granted it was only a first-hand account of what happened on the Ark, but it was comforting. However, it did little to settle his nerves as they received another shock. The name at the end of the file was not that of Gerald Robotnic, but of a.…
"Professor Magnum Ageus?" Shadow never remembered someone named that on the Ark. Then again, he was not all-knowing back then either, so he could have easily missed one scientist. As Shadow looked away from the console, he flashed back to when the Artificial Chaos got loose on Ark, and he and Maria ended up fighting for their lives.
(Flashback)
I was running down a corridor with Maria's hand in my left, and a machine gun on my right. We'd just destroyed one of the Artificial Chaos that had some soldiers pinned down when we ran by a pair talking into a radio. "Sir, the area is secure all personnel with class A clearance or higher have been retrieved." "Good work soldier," came the reply over the communications device, "Who's with your team?" "We got separated sir," the reporting soldier replied, "however; they had both Doctors Gerald Robotnic and Magnum Ageus with them, sir." After hearing that I was about to call to Maria but she creamed and pointed at another Artificial Chaos.
Bringing the gun to bear, I nearly emptied the clip into to monster before it splattered into blue residue on the floor. "Shadow," Maria murmured from my side, "I'm scared for grandfather and all the people on Ark. Shadow, please! We need to hurry and help them." I nodded forgetting the talk of the soldier about Professor Gerald for now and focused on defeating the Artificial Chaos.
(End Flashback)
Shadow soon returned to his senses when to looked for the location of the pod. The Ark had been in a state of decay since the Black Arms incident, but was still mostly whole. He looked and received quite a shock.
"It was there, the whole time," he uttered softly in disbelief. The same roomhe and Maria frequented to look at the Earth, the same room where she was shot, next door in a sealed room was where the pod was. He could feel tears running down his face, wondering just how many times they'd been there, and how long the pod was just a few steps away. He then checked on the pod's remote access systems. They all showed they were ready to be activated. This message nearly left him crippled with despair, because the system had been ready to cure her, save her life, and he'd been unable to do anything. His fist hit the panel angrily as he stalked out of the room.
He raced down the halls to the room, to look at this machine which would have saved Maria's life. His head bent in guilt, guilt for not being strong enough, fast enough, to save her. Shadow was soon thrown from these thoughts by an echo. "Hehehe..." was the short sound that met his ears, but even so faint it stood out like white on rice to Shadow. He know every creaking part of this stretch of walkway, and never had such a sound been present. Also, the laugh sounded familiar….
Wasting no time, he increased speed and managed to make it to the room in record time. As he reached the lookout port, he remebered this as the spot where Maria...died.
The control panel, the escape pod, everything was still here,still untouched by the years that had passed. He looked at the console, and saw blood stains on the metal. He knew, that this was Maria's blood, shed over 50 years ago. 50 years, and the reason why was not far from the stain.A blue residue eminating faint chaos energy was only 5 feet away, the remains of an Artificial Chaos. It had taken him a while, but he learned the truth. Maria had been in front of an Artificial Chaos, she was hit by a stray bullet, mearly caught in the crossfire.
Shadow had two small streams of tears running down his face, as he looked into his memories, seeing Maria's last moments of life. The look in her eyes, a look of sadness, yet one of forgiveness and hope as well. He doubted anyone save an angel could hold such an expression in the face of death. Shadow then looked to the door at his right, the one which held the pod that would have cured Maria.
The pannel beside the door was old and looked hotwired. He figured G.U.N. troops may have gotten at it, but still sought to look upon the remains. As the door opened, he remembered displayes saying power had been cut to this area. His only conclusion was that what was inside had it's own power source. As it opened, a chill sweapt through his being, but not an unpleasent one. Rather it was similar to a stray wind on a hot summers day.
As he aproached the pod, he saw it was still functioning, just in sleep mode. The pannels lit up at his touch; showing energy output, subject health status...
WAIT!
Shadow looked at the screen to confirm what he was seeing. The readouts clearly indicated that someone was inside the pod! Shadowright awaycalled up a complete scan on the lifesigns. The pod hummed for a few seconds before giving it's verdict. The subject was in stasis, preserved and stable. A bullet wound had been identified and healed on the subjects left chest cavity. The bullet had benn removed and disolved within the goo itself. Terminal illness NIDS was detected, but was dormant, as was the subject. Scans further indicated that the subject was cellularly preserved, having stopped theaging process while in the chamber. In short, all systems report optimum funtion,excluding Chaos Emerald and Master Emerald powered systems.
Shadow, begining to think this a dream, looked at the pods frosted surface and wiped away the dust and condensation from the glass. The figure inside, while immersed in green colored goo, seemed to float in an other-worldy way.
Her golden blond hair floated above her head, blue colored dress billowing without any wind, and closed eyes that hid the most brillient shade of sky blue.
'Maria! MY Maria!' was all Shadow could think as he watched a veritable spirit of his past float away inside a container over 50 years old. Clutched to her chest, he noticed, was a small rag doll with what he knew tohave soft, cloth quills stitched onto it's head. There, Maria Robotnic and Sonia the Hedgehog floated, unchanged by the flow of time. A holographic message popped up, with a skinny man that had thin yet unrully black hair, spoke.
"Good to see you made it, Shadow the Hedgehog..."
Author's Notes: To all who have given support to my fic and reveiwed, thanks for the help! To those that just looked but never reviewed, hey, hope your enjoying it. Just so everyone knows, my other story has hita massive roadblock again, and I hope this story helps get my creativity going again. To any with origional characters you want to submit, or perhaps have an omake you want posted, I'm allk ears. Hope everyone's having fun, and get ready for next chapter.
Memoirs of a Black Hedgehog
Chapter 3
Shadow's Quest