Shadow's First Life

Chapter V

The Alien Leader

More and more my life settled into a state of banality, becoming something ordinary and predictable. I had just finished my school year in the fourth grade. I had an easier time with the task of ignoring Jim and his comments, but I missed Maria's company. My sister was still there for me, but I did not interact with her as I used to. She seemed distant and distracted, too occupied with other things to console me and worry about me.

I was very dependant in my childhood. Maria was drifting from my life like a stray kite swaying through the air on a determined gale. My birthday was around the corner and she was absent, spending time with her friends.

I had invited my three best friends over for a sleepover party. My friends were ones I had gotten to know over the years in school. Through the years we would sit together at lunch, stay together during 'recess', and try to take life as it came day after day.

Recess was profoundly hindered, as was life on the colony. I lived without nature at first, without blue skies and white puffy clouds, without rain and dull grey days, without pleasant trees, without robins and cardinals, and without the rustling of grass under my feet. I dreamed about what life would be on the blue and white marble far below the colony in which I was trapped.

My best friends were a skunk, a rabbit, and a human. The skunk was Mark Clover. His name was ironic, with him being a skunk and his last name being that of a flower! I know that his simple, beastly relative could spray potent, stinking fluids up to two meters away, but he never had any odor. There was no need for the black and white skunk with amber eyes to ever use it. Mark was easygoing and friendly, which was very much like me.

The rabbit was Alex Gardener. He had brown fur and floppy ears, and vigilant green eyes. His personality was one of care and control, and he was rather clever. He was tall, and stayed that way the whole time I knew him.

The human was John Bonji. He was short, but he also was strong and ruddy. He had black eyes and light brown skin, which was typical since his parents were from Korea. His father was an engineer that worked on the colony. Johnny had a sense of humor that always lightened my mood and eased the feelings all of us had.

My reason for remembering after I turned eleven is because of an encounter that I had with someone, or rather, something that tried to convince me to turn my back on the world and join his forces of corruption and death. Seeing him was an eccentricity, and he appeared to be some sort of apparition, like a wraith. The creature that I mention is someone that arrived on the Earth with forces of destruction that brought fire and chaos to this world. His name is Black Doom.

I was wandering aimlessly through the colony one day when I got on an elevator to explore the ARK. The elevator door closed upon me and the sensation of weight pulled down on my stomach as the elevator ascended. I heard the whir of the elevator as it lifted me for about a minute and then stopped to open on a new level. As I felt a brief gust of wind brush my face, I peered out the door and saw dull hallways of metal and rust. The light was dim as I stepped off of the elevator.

I happened to be on a storage level of the colony. I stepped forward and glanced at the steel walls. My throat tightened as my mind filled with anxiety. A large area in the wall was open, showing a secondary hallway that should have been sealed off from the main hallways.

Curiously I wandered into the corridor and found in the dim light a door was open. My steps tapped against the metal of the floor and echoed softly in my ears. I approached the door and entered a small room to investigate. The room was small and empty, but as I turned around the door closed on me! A gasp escaped my lips as I jumped in panic. My stomach felt heavy and the room suddenly lurched up. I realized that I was on an elevator.

My breathing became shallow and my eyes wandered around the room. Next to the door was a panel that glowed orange. An idea entered my mind, so I tried pressing buttons on the panel to stop the elevator, but that caused nothing to happen. Suddenly the elevator stopped, and then it moved sideways, carrying me to the left. The doors opened up to reveal a panel of thick glass. In the darkness, green glowing panels were spaced apart and illuminated the elevator. At times I could see wires and ventilation ducts sprawling across the dull, steel-blue walls in between the green light.

After minutes passed, the elevator stopped again where the elevator shaft widened. I pressed my hands against the glass and looked to the left, noticing a large rectangular panel that soon opened in two pieces and pulled apart. The panel was several centimeters thick, and the space between the spreading hatches had teeth that interlocked. The elevator glided through the hatch and out into an empty rift.

I glanced back at the hatch from which I entered, and it was one hatch of a multitude of others that were spaced apart by ten meters, arranged in distinctive rows that spanned to the left and right. Other rows of hatches were stacked on top of one another, and they seemed to extend forever into darkness. I heard a hum from behind me, and turned around only to notice another window of glass behind me. The two solid walls and the ceiling had changed to show smaller windows about one square meter large.

I looked through the windows and realized that the rows of hatches extended above, below, in front of and behind me as two vast walls. The elevator approached the wall opposite of the one I entered and a hatch opened, awaiting my entrance. My mind filled with fear as the hatch closed behind the elevator and I was once again in a narrow hallway like the one I had passed through before. The elevator eventually stopped, and the glass door I was behind slipped open. A hallway was before me, and it was well lit.

A gust of air inspired me to get out of the elevator and its own stuffy atmosphere and venture to the hall. The hallway was cool and clean, fresh air entered my chest as I took deep breaths to calm myself. The way the doors and hatches had opened gave me the impression that they were forcing me to go somewhere...

The elevator shut and I wandered down the hallway into a room. That was when I saw a large, tall, and dark creature floating in front of my grandfather! The creature had two horns on the sides of its head and it did not have legs. It hovered as it watched my dear old man. The creature was wearing a brown robe and chains dangled around its neck. The creature spoke with a deep voice that seemed rough like gravel.

"Gerald Robotnik, I will grant your request if you do a favor for me in return." The creature lifted its hands to its chest in a gesture with long, thick fingers. "What do you need?" my grandfather asked. "My need is simple, Professor. Bring all of the seven Chaos Crystals to me, and I will help you find a way to teach others how to use Chaos Energy." I knew not what Chaos Crystals were, but I lacked trust in giving the Crystals to the ghostly figure. My mind was overwhelmed with consternation upon hearing my hero's response. "Agreed. I will bring the seven Chaos to you for you to teach me the nature of Chaos Energy."

"Very well," the being replied with a chuckle. "I will teach your little hedgehog about Chaos Energy." My heart stopped briefly at that remark. Hedgehog! Could that be... me? "I would like to see him now," the dark being stated as it turned around and saw me standing there like a dumb animal. My blood chilled as I realized what had just happened. I stared at the robed creature as I noticed it had three glowing red eyes, having one in the middle of its face that was larger than the other two. I started gasping and looked for a means of escape, and then I ran down the hall.

The doors and other objects in the hallway whizzed past me and wind firmly pressed against my body. I soon realized as I paused that the hallway did have maps on the wall. I determined where I was and took a left to loose the scary monster. I then turned right after passing four intersections and ran once again. I then turned left and stopped far from any intersections and found an open door to a small corridor, and hid there.

The corridor was only with white walls and had a closet. I closed the door to the corridor, and then I closed the closet door with myself inside. I crouched down behind crates in a corner and stayed there. The darkness and quiet of the closet soothed my nerves.

I glanced at my watch and pressed a button on it to make it glow in an effort to determine the time. My watch indicated that the time was 3:15pm. I sighed. I decided to stay there for another fifteen minutes. When the time went by, I rose up and left the closet to return to the room where my grandfather was. Fortunately, I saw him alone, and fervently ran up to him in panic.

"Grandpa! Help me, please! I don't want to get hurt by that monster!" I clung to his lab coat and watched his eyes. "Shadow, you need to calm down." His voice was determined and steady. I hesitated, and then I noticed that the creature was in the room next to us! I whimpered and grabbed onto my grandfather for comfort.

The beast approached us and pulled me away from Granddad and tried to lift me up, but I wrestled out of its grip and started running. With timing that could not have been more ironic by being contrary to my wishes, I tripped and fell onto the floor. As a large shadow was cast over me, I turned over onto my back and stared the creature in the face. I covered my head with my arms and gasped in fear. The creature lifted me up again, so I decided to capitulate and stayed still.

The creature watched me in a most baleful way that filled me with horror. The alien then raised its hand to stroke my head, running its large hand through my quills. "This is my child, my boy," the creature said. Me, his child? That can't be true! My mind grew lightheaded and my vision blurred as a red light emitted from the alien. My heart started to burn with searing pain. I screamed in terror as I was convinced I was going to die.

I suddenly was jerked away from the alien and I heard Granddad's voice as warm arms firmly held me. "Leave the boy alone! Do not hurt him!" The creature now was a brown blob, as my sight blurred distinct and definite things into indistinct smears. I lost consciousness as my mind filled with darkness, sounds seemed distant, and colors faded into nothing.

My eyes slowly opened and I felt a throbbing ache in my skull. The ache was irritating, so I lifted my arm up to rub my head. I sat up and felt something slip off my chest. What happened? I scanned my surroundings. I was back in my room. I was in my bed and tried to recall what was going on. I then remembered what had happened in a thought that occurred along with my headache. That alien grabbed me. But why am I in my room? Was that a nightmare? I turned my questions over in my mind. I remember pain. Physical pain can't be felt in a dream.

I heard a sound from the hallway, so I turned my eyes to it. Maria walked up to me in a green dress shirt and placed her hand on my forehead. Her eyes were filled with anxiety. "Shadow, are you feeling alright?" I waited and focused on the feeling of her hand on me. It was cold, and it was gentle. She must be scared, I thought. "I have a headache," I replied with a sheepish grin. Maria gave me a wry smile. "What happened, Maria?" I asked. Maria's face neared mine. "Grandpa told me that he saved you from an alien. Is that true?" My mood sank along with my stomach.

"Yes it is. The alien was holding me. I remember now," I replied as I rubbed my head. "Granddad pulled me out of the alien's arms after it hurt me," I finished. "Hurt you? How?" Maria's blue eyes filled with fear. I sighed. "All I remember is that my head felt sleepy, and then my heart hurt a whole lot. I saw a red light," I answered her.

Maria wrung her hands together. "Shadow?" "Yes, Maria," I responded. "Your quills are red now." I grasped my quill and pulled it in front of my face. "It is?" My quill was black, but it had red on one side of it. I then swallowed after I noticed my arm, which also was red on one side. I glanced at my other arm, which also was red, and then I lifted the blanket on me and found my legs to be red as well.

"What is this? What happened?" My eyes widened as I asked myself. I looked into Maria's eyes. Her eyes dimmed and her mouth was twisted. "I do not know. You looked like that since Grandpa rescued you." A thought entered my imagination. "Is this hair dye?" Maria shook her head. "I do not think so, Shadow." I got out of my bed and walked into the bathroom. I stared in the mirror. I looked scarier than I did before. I frightened myself with the sight I was...