Hi everybody! How're you all doing today? Sorry that this is a little late… the power at my neighborhood went off and on a few times and it sort of disconnected my computer from the internet! And as I was working on this chapter, I experienced the worst thing in a writer's life: (Cue Dracula music) I GOT A WRITER'S BLOCK! NOOOOooooo! That was the first time in my life that I've experienced such a thing! Really! But it's okay now, I got pass the writer's block, it actually only lasted for about 2 days, so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal. But I'd rather NOT have another one again! Heh, heh. Anyway, here's chapter 11!
Disclaimer- Again, I don't own Sonic and Co. I own the nosey photographer, Ruby and the crazy kid, Leo.
Ruby & Leo: Hey!
Shadowed Photo Ch. 11- Digging Deeper into the Truth
'Here we go again…' I thought as Shadow slowly walked up to me. His face was serious and dark as it always is. 'We'll I might as well brace myself, I'm in for one heck of a lecture…' He was only a few feet away from me. 'Here it comes…' He stopped right in front of me and stared at me heard, his hard, blood red eyes burrowing into my soft chocolate brown eyes. He closed his eyes and sighed. Then he… walked right past me…? And then said, "C'mon, we're taking a walk."
'What…? Huh…? What ever happened to the cold-blooded-killer-Shadow? Why is he not being… evil? Why does he want to take a walk? AND WHY DOES MY HEAD HURT?'
Apparently, I had gotten a headache while screaming these questions in my mind and was now swaying back and forth in my dizziness while clutching my head. I saw Shadow turning around and had a 'this-is-the-weirdest-human-I-have-ever-met' look plastered on his face.
"…Are you going to faint, kid?" I finally regained my balance and shook my head rapidly.
"Erm, no! Sorry, I just have a little headache, I'm good now!" I said reassuringly. I quickly followed him to… where ever we were going.
10 minutes later, in the Lounging Deck…
"…so that's why you should never go into the east wing of the ARK if you don't want to shrivel up and die by the chemicals…" Explained Shadow. I had almost gone into a certain room that I didn't know was poisonous inside and technically, Shadow was explaining to me why I shouldn't go in there. (And partly because I wouldn't stop asking him.)
"Ah." I nodded my head.
"Anything else you want to annoy me about?" He mumbled. Was he joking for once? Hmm, probably not. I thought for a minute.
"Actually, yes." I paused for a moment, gathering up my courage. "Who… is…" I began slowly. "Who is Maria?"
He flinched.
There. I asked it. 'Way to go, Ruby. Now he's really gonna kill me, at least a dozen times over.'
I made no eye contact with him. I was on the floor leaning against the wall while Shadow was gazing out the window. The heavy silence lasted for a moment. I was begging for him to say something, even if it was just to blow me off. Finally, he opened his mouth.
"Dang, I knew you would ask that eventually, I just didn't think it'd be so soon…"
Huh? He was expecting me to ask him? "Whoa, wait a minute! You mean to tell me that you knew that I knew about…"
He cut me off short. "Don't say her name." He hissed. I gulped and stuttered at bit.
"O-okay… um, c-could you p-please answer my question… for once…?" I said, my voice shaken a bit. He looked super hard into my eyes again, in his usual cold hearted way. Darn it! How is he always able to do that! How can he make me shut up, but I can never get him to be quiet, too? Oh, wait. Forget that I asked that…
Shadow looked at my face and looked a little shocked, like he did something wrong… what! Shadow showing shame? Yeah, right! But… he did… just now… in front of me… but…
"…Why?"
"H-huh…?" I looked at him again. Was there… sadness in his eyes? Was that even possible for him to even possess that emotion?
"Why… is it that," He began very slowly, "… you remind me of her…?"
I was silent. What did he mean 'you remind me of her'?
'Wait, so that means… I thought. '…He must have known Maria! Maybe they were friends! But why did he look so sad just now?'
Shadow opened his mouth again, hesitantly. "She was… the youngest one aboard the ARK. She was actually pretty close to your age, but she probably was about a year older than you before she—" He abruptly stopped short.
"What… happened?" I asked cautiously. There was another heavy silence for another moment.
He swiftly turned around and said in a slightly harsh tone, "She died, a long time ago." Yet another silent pause. "Tell anyone what I said to you, and I'll really stuff you into an air tight prison cell." He said in a warning tone. And not in the kidding way, either. Then, he started to walk away. "I need to take care of some business." And he went super sonic and he was gone. I stood there alone, feeling like I just witnessed the murder of a baby kitten. (Ack! I can't believe I just said that! Get that horrible image out of my head! XX) I almost felt like crying, but I didn't know why! I turned my head to the window and looked out at the stars… and a space rocket. Wait! Rewind! Did I just say 'a space rocket'?
My eyes widened. It really was a space rocket! And it was heading towards the ARK! But, the real question was: Who was the sucky pilot that was driving it?
In the space rocket…"KNUCKLES! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Screamed everyone on the ship (minis Knuckles). Knuckles had sensed the Master Emerald's presence and in his "excitement", he snatched the pilot seat and was trying to fly into the ARK. Everyone was trying to pull him off of the pilot controller (I don't know what it's really called…).
"Let me go!" Roared Knuckles. "The Master Emerald is somewhere on that space colony! We have to get in there!"
"We have to find an opening first, Knuckles!" Tails tried to explain calmly. But that didn't help Knuckles at all…
"You want an opening? Well, then I'll make one for you!" He pushed forward on the steering stick. The ship suddenly picked up speed. Then the idea hit them; Knuckle was going to crash them into the ARK! The rest of them screamed on the top of there lungs, especially Leo, who's scream was almost as girlish as Amy's.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
CRASH! BAM!
Rattle, rattle…
The aftermath was actually quite funny if I do say so myself. Here's what the picture was: Leo was clutching to his chair, Amy was hanging over another chair like a rag doll, and Sonic and Tails were under some boxes that had toppled on them when they crashed. And luckily, no one was hurt. As for Knuckles, well, he already took off running trying to find the Master Emerald.
"I guess he really wants his emerald thing back…" Leo said, letting go of the chair he was holding onto for dear life.
"Stupid… Master… Emerald…!" Grumbled Amy.
Sonic and Tails submerged from the pile of boxes. Sonic helped Amy get down from the top of her chair, which made Amy blush. "Thank you, Sonic!" She gleamed.
"Uh, you're welcome…" Sonic backed away a little from Amy. Tails walked over to Leo, rubbing his head because one of the boxes fell on his head. Luckily, it was a small box.
"Knuckles' piloting skills aren't very good…" He mumbled.
"Well, on the up side, we're in the ARK so now we can rescue Ruby and save the world!" Leo said in a positive attitude. "Alright! Vamos! Let's go!" Leo said while making hand signals indicating for them to 'get a move on'. Everyone followed and went on the search. Leo's expression changed from determined to worried. Sonic apparently saw his expression and ran up to Leo's side.
"Don't worry. I promise you, we'll find you're friend, no matter what." He gave him a determined grin.
"Guys!" Tails yelled. "Let's get in the X Typhoon! I'll put it on walk mode!" The group ran over to the plane that was connected to the space rocket and strapped themselves in. Getting in was the easy part, now completing the mission and getting out was the hard part.
Elsewhere with me and Rouge…Rouge and I were staring at the computer screen as it was loading. Rouge was sitting in the chair and I was standing next to her while leaning on the desk. "C'mon, c'mon… today would nice…!" Rouge mumbled. I rapidly tapped my finger in impatience. After the rocket had crashed into the ARK, I found Rouge and told her about Maria might possible have something to do with Shadow, despite the warning Shadow gave me, but as I say, what Shadow doesn't know won't hurt him… or me especially.
"Rouge, who do you think crashed into the ARK?" I asked her.
"Oh, I've got a pretty good idea who it is and what they want." Rouge answered casually, not concerned at all.
"What if they're here to stop Eggman, too? Why don't we help them?"
"Because, if we help them, we'll miss out on finding out what 'Project: Shadow' is! And if you're right, Maria might have something to do with it." She explained. I nodded, but I really wanted to know who exactly crashed into the ARK. Finally, the computer brought up Maria's profile.
Maria Robotnic Age: 12Position: None
Family: Professor Gerald Robotnic; Grandfather
Whereabouts: Deceased, killed in 1954
"So Shadow was right, she did die…" I said. "And not only that, she was the granddaughter of Professor Gerald… but there's not a whole lot about her."
"Wait… Ruby?" Rouge had a serious look on her face. "Didn't you say that Shadow knew Maria?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah, in a way."
"Look at the date she died." She motioned her head towards the computer screen.
"1954…" I read out loud. Then I read it again. My eyes widened in realization. "1954?.! But that's about fifty years ago! And if Shadow really did know Maria… then he must be about…!"
"Fifty years old." Rouge finished for me. "Hmph, that's not bad for a gramps considering how he looks." She chuckled. "I think we have a pretty good idea who 'Project: Shadow' really is now! All we need to do is get some proof—"
"Rouge!"
Eggman's big fat face flashed onto the screen. Without warning Rouge kicked me in the back and sent me flying to underneath the computer. 'OOOUUUUUUUCH! That really hurt, Rouge!' I whined in my mind. I was on my stomach with Rouge's foot resting on my back with some pressure on it to keep me down. I was thankful I didn't land on my camera; otherwise I would've crushed it!
"Yes, Eggy-Poo?" Rouge responded. (Eggy-poo? –Chuckle,chuckle-)
"It seems that Sonic and his annoying friends have infiltrated the ARK. You need to activate the security system, now!"
"No problem, Eggy. Just give me the password and I'll do it."
"M-A-R-I-A. Maria." He slowly said. "And don't mess this up! Oh, and by the way, get Ruby. She may prove to be useful after all. Mwahahahahaha!" The his face disappeared and Rouge took her foot of my back.
"Crud! Ruby, you need to get out of here!" Rouge pulled me out from under the computer as I stood up.
"Wait!" I blurted out. "What did Eggman mean when he said—"
Rouge sighed and said. "He's going to use you as a hostage against Sonic and the others." I gasped. 'M-m-me? As a hostage? How could he? I didn't do anything! I'm innocent!'
She then grabbed my hand and dragged me out into the hallway. "Now listen to me very, very carefully, Ruby." She said in a low tone. She pointed down the hall. "Go down the hall for a little while until you've reached a fork in the hallway, then take a right and keep going strait until you find a room that says 'Escape Pods'. Go in there, get in one of the pods. Once you do, press the green button that says auto pilot and it will take you somewhere safe. Now get going."
"WHAT?" I shouted. "But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me, I'm a secret agent." She winked at me, with her hands on her hips. "He won't be able to catch me that easily!"
My eyes began to water. 'Does this mean I won't see you again? You were the only one who was really nice to me…' I rubbed my eyes and tried to smile a little. I raised my hand in salute. "Understood, Agent Rouge! Agent Ruby Gemmon signing out!" She saluted back and I took off.
I followed directions and ended up in the exact room where Rouge told me to go. I sure enough, there was a medium size ship in the middle of the room. I walked up to it and was about to open it until I could have sworn on my great-grandfather's grave that I heard a very familiar voice that was calling out to me…
"Ruby!"
"Leo…?" I called. "LEO?"
"Ruby! Where are you!"
"I-in here!" I tried calling again. I wasn't to sure where the voice was coming from, but I was positive it was Leo's voice. I looked around franticly for Leo. 'Darn it! This place is so big that the voices of someone can vibrate off the walls! So it's really impossible to find someone in this stupid place! Argh!' I decided to sprint to the door and start looking for him, but as soon as I opened the door—
BONK!I bumped into someone, in the head I might add… very hard. I fell flat on my bottom. "Oww… oooooh… that hurt…!" I finally looked up and saw Leo's face. I was speechless, but in a good way. "L-Le…o…? Is that really you…?" Tears of joy started to sprinkle down on my face. "LEO! It is you! Waaaaaaaaah!"
"Ruby!" He cried in joy. I lunged at him to give him a friendly, bone-crushing hug, like I always do when I haven't seen anyone for a long time.
But, instead a hug in return, Leo gave me a big fat nuggie.
"This is what you get for trying to grab your camera when I said 'Let go, Ruby!' " he shouted in a teasing tone. I started giggling like crazy.
"Ack! Leo! That hurts! S-stop already! Hee, hee! Ha ha!" He continued with his 'nuggie of pain for disobedience.'
"Say the password, first! Say it!" He urged me.
"I-I…I'm…!" I tried to choke out.
"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE! NOW PLEASE LET—" I gagged from the lack of oxygen—"ME GO!"
Seeing how he was chocking me he immediately let go. Leo usually didn't rough house around me because I was a girl, but if I did something stupid, he would sometimes playfully punch me or almost choke me, forgetting I was a girl.
"Are you okay?" He asked urgently.
"Well, that nuggie really hurt, but I'll survive." I said happily.
"Erm, well, I'm sorry about that, too, but what I meant to say was were you hurt in any way before I gave you that nuggie?" He said, slightly blushing.
"Oh, so now your concerned about my welfare?" I put my hands on my hips and pouted. Then I smiled at him warmly. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good! Now let's get out of here before the robots come! We've got to get back to Tails!" He grabbed my arm.
"Tails? You mean Miles 'Tails' Prower? As in Sonic's friend?"
"Yep. Long story short; I found Sonic and the others and asked for their help." He said like it was no big deal. He did a heroic pose. "Please, feel free to indulge me in praise!"
"Uh, Leo?" I tapped him on the arm. "How about after we get out of here?"
"…yeah, good point."
Alright! That's chapter 11! So what will happen next? Will Ruby and Leo be able to escape the ARK on time? And will Sonic and friends be able to save the Earth, too? And why does Ruby remind Shadow of Maria even though they're two different people? Find out next chapter! Oh, and don't forget to click that little blue button on the bottom of the left side of the screen. In other words… REVIEW! And no flamz, plz. TTFN!