Age of Darkness

Chapter II

Robbery

Hmmm... I have been in stasis hibernation for thirty years. I was frozen in 1972. I was released on 2001, June. Nearly thirty years have passed since I closed my eyes. The thought sent a chill down my neck as it crawled to my spine, creeping down to my tail. Oh, well. For all I know, it could have been two centuries!

I searched through entries on the mainframe of ARK, seeking any other descendants of Grandfather. The screen flashed numerous folders in windows for a minute before the file was found and opened. Unlike the encrypted files concerning my development and the development of Bio, these files were not corrupted to the casual eye. If one was to decrypt and open these mentioned files on Project: Shadow, they would see titles and texts in corrupted lines and symbols. Gerald was smart enough to tweak the font and make the files appear useless.

That must be it. I opened the file and on it was family history of my designer. Branching out from my legal grandfather were two branches, one to John Robotnik, my adoptive father, and the other to Suzie Robotnik. Sure enough, she had a son named Ivo Robotnik. I rested my chin on my fist as I thought.

Could that be the man I saw? Why else would he have barged through the base on Prison Island to find me? To find what his grandfather made, of course! Or he just wanted to use me for power.

I selected another file and it was a picture of Gerald and Ivo. They look the same. Good God! They look almost completely the same! My mouth gaped as I compared them. Same face, same rounded body, same thick moustache, same nose... Ivo is not benevolent. Gerald is. Or at least he was. Ivo wants power. I will offer it to him. Trick him. He will gather the seven Chaos Crystals, and the program to end it all will be activated. A bitter frown curved on my lips, morphing my mouth into a downward scowl. I sighed. Now what? I asked myself. I looked at the weapon that could fragment a planet. The device had a codename for you readers to know later, if you do not know already. I studied it extensively.

As I opened a file, a video opened and showed my Grandfather, bound in ropes to a chair. Behind him on the wall of a jail cell were countless equations and scribbled diagrams. What is going on? I do not remember this. My eyes narrowed. "This is a death sentence for all of the human beings on Earth. If my calculations are correct, in 27 minutes, 53 seconds, the space colony ARK will collide with the Earth and turn it into a wasteland. I devoted my life to better mankind, and this is how you repay me? The people I helped caused the death of my family! All of you wretched, ungrateful people have destroyed everything that has mattered to me, and so I will take your lives!" A second voice spoke up. "Is there anything else you would like to say?" Gerald glared at the guards with pure hate. "No," he said dolorously. "Ready, men. FIRE!" The screen went black.

I presume he is dead... I concluded as I showed a small instant of something besides hate. One can never be sure, though. He may have escaped. No. He was old; dying away. I find his survival next to impossible. I went back to one average room in the colony and threw myself on the bed after filling my belly with refreshing, cold water. Water; It is nice and cold and fresh. I feel better now. But I am still hungry! I will worry about that later. I fell into an uneasy sleep...

When will Ivo get here? I watched the computer security system for the opening of any hatches or doors. I filled up on the only food on the colony that has not spoiled in thirty years. Honey, maple syrup and frozen fruit are all I could find. The meat is locked in a stupid giant freezer. A thought occurred to me. I grabbed my trusty crystal and ran for the freezer again. I raised my hand and aimed as the crystal glowed brighter. "Chaos Spear!" The bolt of golden lightning hit a lock on a large metal door and destroyed it, leaving a smoldering hole where it was before. A tug on the door was what I needed to open it and get the steaks inside. I looked at a T-bone steak and smirked. Freezer burn. Why am I not surprised? I cooked the meat on a grill in one of the many kitchens and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I was glad the government did not take everything off the ARK! I finished my meal and went back to the computer terminal to watch for any new events. I had brushed my teeth before I went back. Mom did teach me some good habits, after all.

Just as I was starting to daydream, an alert showed on the screen. Ivo has arrived. Where are you? I determined the level and quadrant he was on. He was in a nearby room. At the center of the room I was in was the computer terminal, surrounded by a circular area that was painted white. Soon enough Ivo found me.

He is in that robot thing again? Is that his security blanket? I brushed my thought aside and pointed at the circle of white that surrounded the terminal. "Stand here, if you do wish to live." Ivo let an expression of anger and confusion show on his face as his brow furrowed and he protested. "What? What are you talking about?" "Stand here, if you wish to live," I repeated, a tone of warning in my unmoved voice. Ivo stood next to me with his robot, which with him on it was half a meter taller than me. For those of you that use Customary measurement, that is roughly 19.5 inches. I pushed a black button on the computer and entered a code. With that keystroke, the room came to life as the floor pulled back and showed that the terminal was not the end of the room. Beyond the terminal was the control center of the very weapon I would use to coax Ivo. The terminal had railed scaffolding behind it leading to and surrounding the control center. The control was a computer terminal with an adjacent column that had numerous grooved indentations on it for something to go.

"Project: Shadow is not the only project to have occurred on the ARK. Here a scientific facility was established to create weapons of mass destruction. This is the result. This device is the Eclipse Cannon. This weapon is capable of wiping life clear off of an entire planet." Ivo grinned. He is just what I thought, I concluded at his reaction. Power hungry. "Well, Shadow! I see you have a plan!" "To destroy a planet, enormous amounts of energy are needed to unleash its power." I placed the Chaos Diamond in one of the grooved shapes. The column flashed white, and below the circle platform a shockwave of light spread through the room. "To reach the Cannon's full power, you will need all seven Chaos Crystals," I finished as I brought my gloved hand up and clenched it in a fist.

"Do you really think it will be that easy?" I was startled by this intrusive voice, and I stared forward as Ivo looked up. A beautiful, young white bat girl flew down from the ceiling high above and hovered in the air above the platform. She was wearing black sweat pants, white boots, gloves, and a... tank top that was shaped like a heart. "I am Rouge the Bat. But you can just call me Rouge. I am a treasure hunter and an expert on collecting jewels." Her voice was beautiful and seductive. With that sentence spoken, she revealed the Chaos Sapphire. Ivo looked at me, and I nodded back...

I was sent to a district in a city called Westopolis that is known as Station Square. To get there, I had to cross a bridge and run across freeways to reach my destination. It was nighttime. The city air was cool. A few sparse stars glimmered in the sky, the rest blinded out by city lights. I stood on of a bridge tower and looked down at the road. Police cars arranged themselves to block the highway and several policemen stood guard. The cars were near streetlights, but I was up in the darkness of night. The tower was not within the dozens of pools of light far below. I stared at the sight as a sneer curved the corners of my mouth. "Hah! How pathetic!" I had a memory.

Running. Panting. That is all I remember. Maria was behind me. We sprinted for the escape room through bleak halls of steel. My feet clacked against the floor as we rushed. "Shadow, I do not think I can make it." Maria was panting. "We are almost there, hold on," I assured. "Don't let them escape!" A voice shouted behind us. Scenes changed. I stared in shock as Maria fell to the floor in her blue blouse and I yelled. "Maria!" Maria faced me as she pushed her chest off the floor. "Shadow. I beg of you please, do it for me; for a better future… for all the people who live on that planet. That's the reason that you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog," Maria said with her last breath. Time froze and colors turned grey. In shock I stared at her eyes, blood pooling on the floor. That moment seemed to last several minutes, but I only saw the body for a few seconds. "Maria!!" The capsule I was trapped in launched me into space.

I opened my eyes and glared in hate at the police men. "Maria, I promise you... revenge!" I leaped from the top of the bridge tower and landed on a thick supporting cable that was strung above the bridge's side and slid on it with the arches of my feet. The surrounding office buildings and lights rose above me as cooled night air played with my fur. As I neared the bottom of the cable, I crouched down to jump. I jumped off of the cable at the bottom and glided over the blockade of police cars. I passed the police, but there was more to come. One of the police saw me and reported to the radio as I sprinted away.

These new shoes might make me slower, I thought as I passed an orange roadblock. If I get used to this, I will be slower when they don't work or something. I stopped as I neared a wall of crates, the second effort to stop me. I let out a sigh, and jumped as high as I could. I somersaulted over the crates and landed on the other side. The crates were only the start. A robot with a gun and a shield in its arms glided down from the sky above and landed in front of me. It raised its arm and fired its weapon, and then it held its shield over its body for protection. I think I will trip it... I curled up into a ball and gathered momentum, later springing forward and slamming into the robot's feet and knocking it over. "Ha! Humpty dumpty!" I pointed in mockery at it struggled in failure to rise. Hey! Got to have some fun here! My head seemed to sway and my balance was off.

Dizzy! Damn it! I shook my head to steady myself and jumped into the air to launch myself at the robot as it lay on the ground. My impact struck the robot and dislodged its shield. I attacked again, smashing it into the tarmac. I stood back and watched it for any more movement. Concluding that it was out, I turned around and continued on my way. The bank I was going to rob was getting closer by the minute.

Hearing a steady rumble sound from the air, I looked up to see a jet fly over me and I instinctively ran. The jet turned around and flew at me again, and I saw an orange light dash out of the jet and get closer to the bridge. No! Jump now!! I leaped into the air as an orange light lit up behind me, heat warmed my back, and my eardrums ached from a blast wave. My face scraped rough pavement as I fell clumsily onto the road. Ouch! I felt blood trickle down my cheek and grains of pavement clung onto my sore and bleeding injury. I could smell hot pavement and burnt explosive fuel from the bomb I narrowly evaded. Asphalt grains and pebbles from my landing were tangled between strands of my soft tuft as I pushed myself up and trudged onward. What a close call. Hope I do not get any more of those. I chuckle at the irony of my thought now. Close calls are exactly what I will be very familiar with for the rest of my life!