Cemetery. Cemetery. Cemetery. I was running faster than I'd ever run before. There was a lone grave standing atop a hill. I wouldn't have noticed except it said:

Maria Robotnik

1946-1979

Beloved friend

Died of a broken heart

"No…n-no," my heart was breaking. "NOOOOO!" my soul cried. It sorrowed for my

loss.

"So Shadow," said an all-too-familiar voice from behind me, "You finally found

her."

"Eggman…Eggman… I'll get you!"

"You can't do anything to me. You don't have your Chaos Emera-"

"I AM SHADOW, THE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM! YOU DARE SET LIMITATIONS ON ME? LET ME SHOW YOU MY REAL POWER!"

I rolled into a ball, and started spinning, a super-sonic ball of spines. I rocketed toward his hovercraft. It exploded in a glorious fireball; the Chaos Emerald power in it fell. I grabbed it, and my hand glowed with its power, a shining purple luminosity of rage and hurt. I was ready to maim, nay, kill, to stem my agony.

"Now Shadow," stumbled Eggman, "L- let's not do anything, uh, um, hasty, something you'll, uh,"

I screamed. He ran and fell about a yard away from me. I didn't care. I was drowning in sorrow. True sadness engulfed my soul. Do I even have a soul, being artificially created? Too many questions…

Then I reached a conclusion: I have to kill Genai. He's the one who sent me here, he lied to me and now he will pay. No one can take advantage of me. If they do, they will suffer.

I dashed to his house, and broke in. I stepped over the broken door, completely blown off its hinges by the power of the Chaos Emerald. I found the man cowering in his room. I ran to him, screaming "You! You lied to me! No one fools with me and gets away with it! YAAAARRRRGG!"

"Wait! Wait!"

"No! You're the one who tore me from Maria! It was you who tricked me! It was you!" I was delirious with mighty wrath. I suddenly had a wicked idea. There were plenty of places I could put him to die without blood. The depths of the ocean, top of Mt. Everest, or… right outside the space colony ARK, where I could watch his lifeless body float by and mockingly laugh every time I go home. "No more of this! Chaos Con…"

"Wait!" pled the old man, "Maria's not dead! She's–"

"Don't lie to me again! I saw her grave! Don't tell me that was a lie too!"

"But it was!" he pled, close to tears, "She's alive!"

"How is that? Her headstone said she died in 1979!"

"Maria made some powerful enemies when she came back from the ARK. They thought she had done some horrible things…"

"Well, you better start explaining. Now." I showed off my Emerald. "Depending on what you say, it could be your last…"

To be continued

Wow, we get a really dark look into Shadow's mind. He's willing to kill for Maria's so-called death. Well, to me it makes sense, because she's the only one who has shown compassion, she's like a mother to him. If a mother's willing to die for you, shouldn't you be willing to die for her?

Oh, man I am so stoked! I just got a new PS2 for Christmas, and I got, drum roll please……………….SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG! FRIGGIN' SWEET! I've already beaten it on one track, and I'm close on another. For those of you who don't know, in each level of Shadow the Hedgehog, you can choose to do what the good guys want (the characters vary), what Doom's Eye (the bad guy) wants, or what you want, so there are many levels.

BookwormRose: I liked your idea about complicating the so-called rescue. I sorta modified your idea, and I think it works well. You'll see what I mean next chapter.

lady-warrioress: I took your advice and made this next chapter longer than usual. I kinda comined this chapter and the one that was supposed to be next.

Dragon85: I listened to you, and the chapter after next has been lengthened just for you! Happy happy joy joy!

Swifftalon: I know you haven't reviewed yet, but I know basically what you will say. Yes, I acknowledge that your so-called real name is the Almighty Swifftalon, but I disagree. If you're really 'almighty' as you claim, then you could change this, but you can't, so there. (sticks tongue out at Swifftalon.)

Oh! And before I forget, I must credit my brother, the intolerable Swifftalon, for Maria. My original plan was to have her be really dead, but he read it and said that she should live, and then I remembered a review from BookwormRose that said that Shadow and Maria deserve a happy ending and after a brief argument with myself and the insufferable Swifftalon, and decided I agreed with both of them. There, happy Mr. Infuriating Swifftalon? You'd better be! To all four of my reviewers: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your reviews let me know this story is worth writing. As for the rest of you...TAKE 5 SECONDS OUT OF YOUR LIVES AND AT LEAST WRITE I READ YOUR STORY! IT MEANS MORE THAN YOU KNOW! Well, that's all for now. Until next time,

Happy Spelling,

Wizard Typist