Sorry for the late update, hehe. I had writers block and then started to ignore it on the fact that I had another story to work on.
Before I begin, I would like to thank SonicDrift, with his OC, Shane Derts, and SpaceCruiserStarr7833, with her OC, Kindra, for allowing me to use their characters. And special thanks to MaggieLimerick for the advice! Thanks guys, you're the best!
"Happy Birthday Lara-Su!" The residence of the castle exclaimed as her friends wished her a good day.
"Thanks everybody." The soon-to-be-guardian was about to make her wish. It reminded her of her father. She was young when she disappeared from her father's watchful eyes. She was too old for the candles but her father kept her from growing up too much. 'I wish I could see my dad again.' And at that, the fire was gone.
The party was going great.
Star's drone, Baron, was talking to Rotor on how to upgrade his systems. Rotor was amazed that a girl that young could create something with a living beings learning capacity. Such an invention must've been done with help.
Star was speaking to Sally about their relationships and how it could end up as. Star kept on comforting Sally in her loss. She still missed Sonic deeply. She stills aches at the thoughts of her fiancé would have reacted to her not showing up at the altar.
The presents were then handed out. Manic was the last to give her a gift.
He had given her a letter. She wondered what her boyfriend would have given her at her bicentenary.
She thought 'A love letter? No, he could give me that anytime. A check? Nah, why would I need that?' She opens the thin paper and discovers…
"A map? To what? Treasure?" Star smiled at this.
"No, to Angel Island. I know your father. I met him once."
"Angel… Island?" She began in a mix emotion of shock and excitement. Then she was jumping with joy showering him with hugs and kisses.
Julie-Su was in the background screaming with joy on the inside.
"I knew you'd love it."
Alisa walked into the operation system in the Fenix Museum.
She wore her blue jacket with her dark blue sweater, with her double strap belt. She had her black pants, shoes and gloves that revealed her finger tips with two watches on her wrists and her trade mark pink glasses. One watch was on her left told the time all around the world, with the help of option switching, the other neither told the time nor the date. It was like a small dome. Only she knew what was in it. She was gray in colour and had short black locks with three of them being teal. Two of them were in the back of her head, still visible from the front, and the third was in front next her right eye. The lock next to it was next to her left eye with white bands on it.
"Hey Diesel."
Diesel was hacking into a rival companies system. He was shifting from three keyboards and six monitors with ease. But he was used to this and might seem a bit dazed when he does this.
"What do you want?"
The cat walks over to him and hugs his neck from behind. "I need a favour."
"If there's any problems with the museum, leave me alone. You're the curator."
"It's not that."
"What is it then?"
"Circuit needs a better system to rest in."
"He wants me to develop another system!? I just did two months ago! And why are you asking for him?"
"C'mon Diz, he might quit."
"Let him then, I don't need help hacking into these systems! And don't call me Diz, ever!"
Alisa spies the photo of Star on his desk. "You still like her?"
"Um… uh… no!" Diesel begins to panic.
"Judging from your reaction, you still like her."
"No, I just… don't know how to feel."
"Why don't you just move on?"
"There's no one else out there for me."
"There are a lot of women out there. Sometimes they can be right under your nose. Just look hard enough. K, Diz?" She then flicks his nose and walks off
"Oh, and don't forget the program."
'I'll never understand her.'
Commander Prower was up in the hills of a vast plain. The beauty of such an untouched land would bring peace to any hardened soul. The warm breeze rushed by him, it was unbelievably comforting. The sun was set perfectly and he could see the world like it was before.
He was paranoid that the world was still in danger. With Sonic, he was set in certainty of the world's safety but now that he's gone, he bears the burden he thought Sonic did.
Out of the effort of the day's events, Bunnie Rabbot decided to enter her place of serenity. A vast field, situated behind her old home, was ready to present itself to her once more, and this time it held a surprise.
After pushing away a few bushes, she enters the grassland to find a very unexpected person.
She gasps and hides once more at his sight.
"Huh?" The young fox approaches the bushes to find her ready for battle. Her weapon at the ready, he shows no fear as he notices her metallic features.
"Wha-what happened to you?"
She sees the compassion in his eyes. He feels the same way. She calms down and lowers her weapon as he shows no signs of aggression. "I should be asking you the same thing, sugah."
"Who are you?"
"Bunnie Rabbot, But now it's your turn to answer a question." Feeling that they have grown an acquaintance, Bunnie decides to find out more about the cyborg. "What happened to you?"
The commander sighs and begins to tell his story while facing the vast fields. "My friend, Shadow, had been sent to eliminate a being known as Shade. He was the prototype of Shadow and showed more than just skills, he was decisive and had an everlasting vengeance on Shadow. I was attacked in the pursuit of him, and in order to keep me alive and efficient, the government order that I become the first in an adopted project of Eggman, which was never even tried before!"
"I feel your pain, sugah."
"I'm glad to know that." He gives her a rare smile which has only been shown to either Shadow or Wave.
Bunnie gives him a hug to comfort him. Smiling all the way, finding common grounds with someone seemed to have lit up their spirits.
She gets an idea and grabs his arm. "Come with me, I have a few people I want you to meet."
"Tails!? Honey!?" Wave calls out. She had returned to the old city known as Lynx.
The old city was once inhabited by only lynxes. Commander Prower saw the dead city as proper area for his new secret base.
"I expected him to be here." She sighs and looks out the shatter proof window one the mountain at the edge of the city.
She looked down and notices a destroyed vehicle under the mountain. 'A land slide probably did that, years ago.'
The door opens and Eura enters the room. "Commander, your… gah!" Eura, unfamiliar with the being before her, draws out her dual pistols from nowhere and points it at her. "Who are you!?"
Wave remains unmoved by her weaponry, yet still surprised that she could wield them. "I should be asking you the same thing."
"I am Eura, secretary of Commander Prower, and you are?"
"Oh, so your Tails' secretary."
"Huh?"
"Lower your weapons, I'm Wave, your boss' wife."
"Oh, sorry." She scratches the back of her head and calms down. She gives a grin, showing that she's sorry and a bit embarrassed. At least she's not afraid to show it.
Shane Derts had just entered sunny San Diego. He had come to visit a friend he met online. She seemed to share his same interest in technology but showed a side of depression and overexcitement at very random moments. Despite this, he decided to meet her in person. "Maybe she can help me with my backfiring inventions."
He had arrived in Hotel Marriott, a beautiful hotel with an interesting shape. He approached the manager and got his key. As he entered the elevator to his room, he felt that today would be very interesting. He was a stranger in another world, who knows what would happen. He had engaged in many situations before but none quite like this. He was about to meet a crazy, happy-go-lucky girl, whose appearance is a mystery to him. She knows what he looks like however, he sees the complexities of a webcam to be as simple as tying his own shoes. Though, the same could not be said for his new friend.
He ordered the executive suite and the place seemed like the perfect retreat for any strange and challenging day he might face in his presence in Sand Diego.
He approached his suite and bursts open the door. At his entrance he was welcomed with a set of sofas and a desk across the room. He could see a stunning sight at his right hand side, a view of San Diego with both the green nature, and beach he would soon see first hand. He then headed to a short hall around the corner. But before the door closes, an intruder stops it with its foot.
Shane set his things next to the entrance of the door. He faces the television screen before him. He turns to see the soft bed that beckoned him. Neatly set, he would've jumped onto it but knew he had to make a call. As he turned, he met an unfamiliar face, it was his intruder.
She raised a bazooka and pointed it directly into his face with a smile. "Ding!" She said with glee as she pulled the trigger and a boxing glove sprung out and launched him into his bed.
It was Star Twilight "Nice to see you, Shane!" Only one word could describe her, crazy.
He spit out a feather from the pillow. "That fist was clichéd." He had landed safely onto the pillows but bore much pain. "Is that how you meet all your friends or just me?"
"Just you. I wanted to test this thing." She set her bazooka on the face of the cupboard.
"Well at least you make some mean first impressions." He managed to subdue all his anger. He sat at the side of the bed.
She laughed a bit "I'll take that as a compliment."
Back at the ARK, Shadow reminisced about his every moment with his best friend, Maria. "Maria…" Just a few moments ago his mind was set on Rouge, now Maria. Just what was wrong with this legendary hero?
His emotions were mixed; he was completely confused and hurt inside. People who have been so important in his life are gone. He can longer have the past he solely wanted to return. All those memories, so sweet, so savouring, it was too hard to lose something like that. He was anxious for the future but felt that whatever fate had for him he had to face, but knew that someway, somehow, he would not face it alone.
Kindra a hedgehog with fur similar to Blaze's had entered the hall to see him. She watched as he stared distantly into space through the bullet proof glass. "Shadow?" She approached him.
A tear escaped him. "Shadow, what's wrong?"
He leaned against the glass with his arm arched across his forehead "They're all gone. I can never see them again." She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Oh, Shadow," She gave him a small hug "I know it may seem hard for you, but..."
"But I could've saved them!" He burst out in tears as years of bottled up emotions finally came out. He scared her.
He saw the fear in her eyes, the same fear that he wished he would never set upon another. "I'm sorry, Kindra. I don't know what came over me."
"I do. I know how much it hurts to lose someone who's been so close to you." She held his hand "But we could always find comfort in those who have felt the same pain as we have."
They embrace as they share their pain. Tears dry as their embrace only tighten, as their friendship grows and block out all the pain and leave only the happy memories. Jubilant emotions only flow through them as a new fix on the future sets them at ease. Set safe in each others arms, they know they are not alone. Now, the future must prepare for them.
A glowing light shinned within a clear grassland. A gorgeous figure lay within the light and as it dimmed, she began to take shape. The plant like female hovered above the ground. She landed roughly. She largely inhaled her first breath in years. She raised her hands to meet her eyes, to make sure that what she felt was real. "I'm alive? I'm alive!"
She looked forward to find a pair of feet surrounded by a long black robe. She glanced above her to find Seiner Annals. "Cosmo, I need your help."
Cosmo bore a similar figure to her former one. She had a longer dress reaching down to hear feet. Her dress hung from one shoulder instead of both, she had white gloves with rosebuds on them, and her hair showed little difference, it was still short.
"Why me?" She was unfamiliar with the being before her, but knew quite well that he meant no harm.
"Your connections with the cosmos will prove most useful in my quest."
"What's in it for me?" It's dangerous working with strangers, but she knows she could trust him. She just want's know what she might gain.
"I will allow you to continue in the life you lost ten years ago."
She wasn't shocked at all. She was a child of the cosmos and knew very well how this situation could occur. "Very well, then what is your quest?"
"I need your help to find Maria the Hedgehog."
It's kinda hard to imagine Shadow crying. But hey, things change in ten years.
Since SEGA has announced Shade to be a canon name, I feel that I shouldn't allow my "other character" to have the same name. In order for me to continue, I need some helpful suggestions on the Shadow Project's prototype. I'd really appreciate it.
And one last note, my style might change here for the following chapters.