OMG, I'm late again! I can explain...you know that alert that the site would be down Sunday, from 9pm-4am? Well, I thought it was from 9 am, so I thought the site would be down all day. Stupid me for not reading the directions. Anyway, sorry this is late, and the new chapter for Crimson Stripes should be up tomorrow. I have to start school tomorrow! Yay High School! (Yes, I am one of the weird kids who is actually excited).
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The computer room wasn't too hard for Shadow to find. It was a simple matter of folowing the trail of GUN bodies that Gemini had left in his wake. Shadow slowed down a little as he neared the computer room entrance. There were blast marks and blood all over the ground.
"Sonic was right," Shadow muttered to himself. "The base did look like this when I was here. The only difference was the Black Arms were here too. I wonder if Black Doom knew about Ciel and Gemini." The black hedgehog mused on this for a brief second before he opened the door.
"It's about time you showed up Shadow," Gemini said as he entered. "I almost thought that you wouldn't make it. So then, are you ready to find out about what really happened, before I kill you?"
"I think you are mistaken," Shadow replied. "In case you didn't know, Gerald created me as an immortal. I can't die."
"That's what you think," His brother replied. "No matter, we shall see the truth soon enough. As much as I want to destroy you, I do keep my word." Turning around, Gemini began tapping a few keys on the Mother Computer's keyboard. Upon reaching the password screen, he simply typed in M-A-R-I-A. The code was accepted, as Gerald's old files on Project: Shadow came onto the screen.
"I've seen all this before," Shadow noted. "So you can turn this off, unless you have something else to show me."
"Well then, I see you aren't that good at paying attention." Gemini scrolled down the screen, until he reached a second password screen. Shadow kept watching, still not impressed by anything. Then he noticed that Gemini wasn't typing the MARIA password into the screen. Instead, he typed in the keys B-A-R-O-N. Remarkably, the password was accepted, bringing up a new screen.
"You see, there was a second password that no one ever bothered to use," Gemini explained. "Baron was the name of the hedgehog Gerald based us off of, and he was also my mentor. Barely anyone on the Ark knew about him, except for Gerald, a few scientists, Maria, and us, of course. That's why Gerald used his name as the keyword for our file." On the screen, Gerald's face appeared. Shadow figured that this was one of the proffessor's old recordings.
"To anyone who may be listening," The recording said, the voice crackling a little with static. "I am afraid I made a terrible mistake. You see, Project Shadow was not the only project of his kind. In fact, he is actually the last and youngest of my creations. You see, when I first tried to create the Ultimate Lifeform, I tampered with the idea of a creature that was a fusion of natural creation and cybernetics. This lead to Project Biolizard, which was deemed unsuccessful. Both Shadow and Biolizard have been mentioned in my reports, but not the other two. Their names are Projects Ciel and Gemini."
"So, I suppose you two are indeed projects," Shadow admitted. Out of the corner of his eye, the red-streaked hedgehog could make out Rouge, Knuckles, and Tikal watching through a hole in the wall. Even though he couldn't see him, Shadow also knew that Eggman was watching the recording behind them. On-screen, Gerald continued.
"You see, I made Shadow, Ciel, and Gemini using the blood of Black Doom. I promised him that when the time came, he could pick any one of the three to use to fulfill his mission. That way, I'd have the other two projects to stop whichever Black Doom picked. So, Ciel and Gemini were created first, and Shadow a bit later. He was originally called Lex, but I noticed Maria often calling him Shadow.
"Now, the part where it all went wrong comes in. You see, there was a fourth hedgehog onboard the Ark. His name was Baron, whom I based the projects off of. The GUN had me use him because of his immense power. You see, I discovered that, besides Chaos Magic like the echidnas possesed, there is also Light and Dark magic. Baron was an adept at Dark Magic, but to my suprise, it had not fully consumed him. He was not evil, and could control his magic quite well. Despite this, I did not want my creations to come into contact with him. Unfortunatly, Maria introduced them to him. Gemini, he was awed by Dark Magic, and Baron began teaching him in secret. No one bothered to tell me, even though Maria, Shaodw, and Ciel all knew of this."
"At least you covered for me," Gemini noted. "Actually Shadow, you were always the nicer one of the three of us, believe it or not."
"Me? Nice? I don't suppose I'm that nice now," Shadow answered. Gemini's black eyes flared.
"Indeed, you have changed somehow," He agreed, "And that is why I must destroy you."
"A while afterward," Gerald continued in the recording, "a plauge came upon the Ark. Most of the victems either died, or were damaged for life. This struck me hard, as my beloved Maria was diagnosed with this, along with Ciel. Somehow, Ciel's immune system was never fully completed as a child, and he soon died at the age of nine. As for Maria, she recovered, but her immune system was nearly destroyed. I realized that unless I was successful with my creations, my grandaugher would never go to Earth. I remember when her and the boys would look at Earth from the window, they were all so excited to go there."
"Maria..." Shadow muttered. one of his memories cam into his mind, one of him and Maria gazing upon the planet below.
"Isn't it beautiful Shadow?" she had asked. "Grandfather says you are going to go there someday. Maybe I can too, and we can be together." The sound of the professor's voice never faltered all the while, continuing his confession.
"Finally, around the time that the Black Comet was to arrive near Earth, Gemini nearly destroyed the Ark. If it wasn't for Shadow knocking him unconcious, then the Ark would be a pile of rubble in space. We were never able to figure out what happened to Gemini, but there was no time to fugure it out. I knew that if Black Doom got a hold of him, then Shadow would not be able to stop the two of them. So, in order to prevent that, I sealed Gemini in a capsule, and sent him away. This left Shadow to be the Ultimate Lifeform, but that was not the end of my problems. You see, when Project Shadow was created with a major defect. When he was created...he was born without a soul."
"What?" Shadow cried in outrage. The sudden words struck him like piercing daggers in his mind, cutting away at him. Wasn't a soul the part of a person that gave them life? The black hedgehog remembered hearing that only monsters didn't have souls. Was he...a monster? Shadow put a hand to his forehead as his head began to pound.
"Shadow, if you are there, listen to me," Shadow's gaze met the recorded one of the professor as the pounding in his head began to feel more like explosions. "I know this is probably a shock to you, but I believe this has given you the advantage. You see, I, along with Black Doom and Baron, created a copysoul for you. It has the ability to adapt with you, depending on your situation. Also, since Black Doom helped create it, it renders you immune to nearly all Black Arm control. Shadow, if you haven't already, you must stop Black Doom and Gemini at all costs. The fate of our planet depends on it! I can only hope that you understand this, alright? Well, I must be off now. I am sorry I never told you earlier."
"Don't worry Grandfather," The screen turned to show Maria standing in the doorway. "Shadow and I will both go to Earth oneday, and we'll stop Black Doom and Gemini. You can count on us!"
"That's my girl," Gerald agreed. "Now, go play with Shadow, and don't let anyone know of this, okay?"
"Okay Grandfather. Goodbye Shadow!" Finally, the screen turned black again. Everyone in the room was quiet, contemplating what was just said.
"Maria," Shadow muttered again, the pounding in his head subsiding a little. "I promised you that I would help the people of this planet. If that includes defeating Gemini, then I suppose that's what I must do." Beside him, Gemini laughed.
"Stupid Gerald," He chuckled. "He always acted like he had so much faith in us, but he would carelessly toss us aside if we weren't up to expectation. So Shadow, you think you can beat me?"
"I think I can," Shadow answered. "Let's see if I'm right."
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There! Okay, now for an explanation of the Copysoul. Shadow's Copysoul never belonged to anyone else, it was created by Gerald, Black Doom, and Baron the Hedgehog. The Copysoul, as the name implies, copies bits of a person's soul into itself. Therefore, whoever Shadow comes into contact with, if he's around them for a while, he has a bit of their soul in his. The soul, and therefore his mindset and personality, are affected depending on who he has contact with. It's easier to influence the soul, if less souls have been copied. Shadow currently has quite a few souls copied, from Black Doom to (gasp!) Sonic. Also, due to the fact Black Doom assisted in it's building, Shadow is immune to most (but not all) Black Arm control, while Baron's assistance provides him with partial defense to most magics. There, I explained it, I made it, I own it. Now, I'll see you all later!
