CHAPTER 5

Minuets turned into hours, hours to days, days to weeks. Never once did the professor stop arguing with the Commander. At times, Maria stood up to the man and hit him with her own arguments. They won every battle, but not the war.

After one particularly loud and violent shouting match which sent Maria storming from the conference room to the lab, Abraham caught up with her.

"What do you want?" Maria snapped.

He blinked, a bit shocked from her tone of voice. "Uh…well…I'm sorry about what I said a while ago. You know…about me hoping you never get to see Earth?"

"How could I forget?"

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Get on with it,"

"My uncle's calling up at least a thousand troops to secure the ARK. Nothing goes unwatched around here anymore."

Maria stopped walking and stared into Abraham's mismatched eyes. "And I suppose your uncle just told you this?"

"I was outside one of the doors as he shouted at some of his men. He has a loud voice." Abraham whispered, like he was afraid they'd be overheard.

"I know that from experience." Maria sighed.

"But that's not really the important part," Abraham continued, his voice dropping a few more notches. "They're going to smuggle Shadow down to Earth where he'll be killed. My uncle will cause some kind of distraction to get everyone out of the lab…and when he does…"

Maria stared up at the ceiling. "Sooner or later I knew something like this would happen," She gave him a quizzical look. "why are you even telling me this?"

"I just think that's the right thing to do." His eyes were wide and innocent.

"Well then…" Maria gave him a half-smile. "I guess we'd better plan a counter attack."

"How?"

"I was hoping you'd come up with something."

"I'm not any good at planning either!"

"That's why John's here."

"Right…"

The two of them hurried the rest of the way to the lab.

XxXxXxXx

"I knew that man was planning something." The professor muttered.

"Well, thank you, Abraham. If you want to, you can leave." John had a look of worry on his face, but the emotion didn't spill over into his voice. Abraham nodded and left, leaving the two scientists and Maria.

"Maria, I want you to be mainly in charge of making sure no one goes in the back room." Her grandfather said. "John, at night… that's when you take over."

"Understood," John sighed.

"I'll try to get Young in here as much as I can too. There has to be at least one other person in here at all times, no matter what. Do not allow any G.U.N. soldier, or even the Commander himself, back here. That's our top priority."

"Sounds like a pretty ok plan." Maria nodded nervously. "Will we get weapons?"

"The Commander already has a fear of power and weapons. If we began to carry even a small tranquilizer, I'm pretty sure he'd go nuts on us." John growled. "That man shouldn't be in charge of an army with that kind of unease."

Maria nodded again. "Maybe we should hide Shadow. Somewhere safe and where the Commander would never look."

"Like where? The laundry room?" John asked sarcastically.

"I'm afraid if we tried anything like that he'd be even more outraged." The professor said despite the small smile on his face. "And there's no telling what he'd do."

"There's no telling what he'll do even now."

Silence covered the room for a while.

"For the time being…we'll just stick to this pathetic excuse of a plan." John muttered at last. "We'll come up with something better eventually."

XxXxXxXx

'Eventually' wasn't the next day. Or the next. Although John had come up with the plan that if the Commander was to invade the lab they should stock up on weapons.

That plan was rejected immeadentally. Partly because half the scientists didn't even know how to shoot a gun. So in the meantime the professor, John and Young were in charge of planning. They never got very far.

Maria spent the time either with Abraham, her grandfather or by Shadow's side. She herself had come up with small plans, but they never seemed of any importance when the gravity of the situation weighed in. It seemed like everyone was stuck at square one.

On the third morning of planning (Eventually wasn't that day either) she neared the lab to find her grandfather and the Commander in a heated debate once again. There was no way she was going to get into the lab without getting pulled into the argument.

"Maria!" The Commander shouted harshly.

"Yes, sir?" She sighed.

"Would you care to listen to my side of the argument and tell your stubborn grandfather that this indeed can happen?" His tone of voice said that this wasn't a choice.

"Yes, sir,"

"I have done my own research," The Commander started. "and I've come to the conclusion that this is unavoidable. The Chaos energy infused with Shadow's blood will eventually reject him. It'll send him into a craze; killing on sight."

Maria couldn't help but notice that her grandfather's face was going from a red to purple shade.

"This will happen sooner or later." The Commander stated. "I think it will be in our best interests to destroy him before-"

"The energy will not reject him." The professor interrupted. "This was one of our complications, and we've sorted it out from every angle. There is no way this can happen, Commander."

It was the Commander's turn to glare.

"Don't you have other things you need to do?" The professor asked. "besides pointing out things that we know we've taken care of?"

Maria took this opportunity to slip into the lab. John was sitting at a computer, and when she entered he looked up.

"They've been out there all morning." He muttered. "Yelling at times, too. It's a miracle that they both still have their voices."

"We really need to come up with that plan," Maria said, opening the door at the end of the room. "because I think this is just the warning sign of a storm approaching."

She entered the room and sat next to the bed's side. Shadow twitched slightly and muttered something, but Maria couldn't hear him clearly. One of the monitors next to the bed indicated he was dreaming.

"It's getting worse around here." Maria whispered. "Grandfather said yesterday as a last resort…we'll have to go down to Earth."

The door opened and Maria turned to see Abraham enter. "How'd you get in here?" Maria asked.

"John let me in. He said you looked worried and he made an exception to let me in today." He pulled up a chair next to hers. "How's he doing?"

"The same." Maria sighed. "But at least he's healing."

Abraham nodded.

"So what's been going on with you?"

"Nothing much."

They sat in silence for a while. It seemed as though they had been doing that a lot lately, although Maria preferred it to yelling.

"My uncle threatened to bring me back to Earth today," He finally said. "if I kept taking you and your grandfather's sides in this debate."

"Something's got to be done about that man…and soon."

"Whatever you're planning won't happen soon enough. He can order this entire station to be shut down in a blink of an eye. If he really wanted to, he could destroy this place with a press of a button."

XxXxXxXx

Those words haunted Maria for the rest of the day and well into the night. It was nearly two in the morning when she finally got to sleep, still in her day clothes.

But nearly as soon as she had just welcomed sleep someone was shaking her out of it.

"Maria!"

Maria jumped and lashed out, determined to defeat her attacker. Whoever it was sidestepped and then said in a softer voice, "Maria, it's me!"

"John?" Maria asked. 'What are you doing? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine…but a lot of people aren't. We need to get out of here…now. Your grandfather is trying to wake Shadow and Young is getting everyone off the ARK. Our worst fears are confirmed: The Commander has called in many more G.U.N. troops and is taking over this place." John pulled her out of bed. "Come on! We're to meet him in the lab!"

Maria's heart was pounding but she didn't hesitate to follow John as he darted down the hall. Twice they were confronted by soldiers but John disposed of them with a Tazer before they had a chance to react. In record breaking time, they reached the lab.

"John, take Maria and Shadow and get to the escape pods." The professor commanded, handing a limp Shadow over to John. "I'll follow. Don't wait for me."

"But grandfather…" Maria started.

"Maria, I swear…once we're on Earth we'll put an end to this and Shadow can be free again." The professor said. "But for now…you need to go! Now!"

"Come on, Maria!" John threw open the doors and they ran down the hall again.

"The escape pods are down this hall…take a right and then a left…they should be there. All you have to do is log in the course and you can go. It's so easy a child could do it." John explained as they ran, although it was sort of hard to tell what he said between gasps.

A door opened behind them and John spun around, Tazer at the ready. He downed three more soldiers. "I told you this in case I don't make it."

"But you will make it!" Maria insisted. "I know you will! Come on!"

Down another hall they went. Shadow began to regain consciousness and John gently leaned him against a wall. "Shadow, can you hear me?"

"Wh..What's going on?" Shadow groaned. "It's…so bright…"

"We need to get to the escape pods. The Commander is going to kill you if we don't." John pulled him to his feet, but Shadow's knees gave out and he collapsed on the ground again.

"You can lean on me. We'll get there." Maria promised, supporting Shadow's weight, which wasn't very much. They began to make slow process down the hall.

A gunshot made them jump. Another shot. And another. This time a scream. Silence. Everything was happening so fast.

A door opened suddenly to John's left and ten guards exited out of it, all bearing weapons. One of them was the Commander himself.

"I want that thing captured, not killed. Shoot to wound." The Commander growled.

John raised his Tazer and successfully downed three guards before a shot rang out.

Maria screamed, but she couldn't hear herself. She watched as John fell backwards on the ground, blood blossoming from his stomach. He writhed in pain, knowing that the end wasn't far off.

"Pathetic," The Commander hissed, an evil smile playing on his lips. "Kill him."

Another shot rang out and this time John didn't move afterwards. He lay in a pool of his own blood, his white lab coat becoming soaked with red. Maria called his name over and over even though she knew he would not answer. Tears stung her eyes.

"Maria, hand that thing over and you won't be killed." The Commander ordered, triumph in his cold voice.

"NEVER!" Maria screamed, taking many of the soldiers by surprise. Using that surprise as an advantage, she burst through their ranks and dragged Shadow after her.

"Shoot her!" The Commander screamed.

Bullets bounced and ricocheted down the hall but they weren't hit. Maria pulled Shadow into a small closet and they both held their breath as the soldiers ran down the hall.

"Can you run by yourself? We won't be able to escape unless you can." Maria whispered, her voice shaking from the images she had just seen.

"I'm fine." Shadow muttered. "I can run. I won't let you die."

"Same here." Maria smiled grimly, but she knew Shadow wouldn't be able to see her in the dark. "Come on. We have to get out."

She eased the door open and they took off running down the hall. Further along the way they found downed soldiers and ARK workers alike. Shadow handed Maria a small pistol, which she gripped uncertainly.

"I won't kill them."

"You won't have to." Shadow said. "Just use it to threaten them."

Once again they continued running down the hall. They turned right and continued on, until they came to another fork in the road and turned left. They were met with the sight of freedom and soldiers.

"Surrender." One of them commanded. "Drop your weapon."

Maria dropped the gun with a loud clatter and stood in front of her friend. "I'm not moving."

"If you don't move then you will die too!" One of them shouted.

"Shoot me, then."

"Maria, no!" Shadow pleaded, stepping around her. "Don't do this! They want me!"

"Someone shoot it." The same soldier commanded.

Shadow's look of horror and surprise was plainly on his face as the soldiers opened fired. He braced himself for death, and closed his eyes tightly, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find that he had flung his hands out in front of him, and in doing so had thrown Chaos Spears at the soldiers' bullets.

"Good job." Maria managed to say when she finally found words. "You saved us both there."

"Keep firing, men!"

Another hail of bullets came towards them, but Shadow countered with more spears. A couple of them even striking the soldiers who fired. They fell to the ground, unmoving. It was impossible to tell if they were dead.

"Get it!" the soldier continued screaming. "Come on, men! Get it!" He continued shouting unhelpful yells before Shadow silenced him with another spear.

"Retreat! We'll get the Commander!" another soldier shouted, beginning to back up down the hall. The other soldiers did the same.

"Are they dead?" Maria asked, motioning to the soldiers lying unmoving on the ground.

Shadow stared around the room, completely emotionless. "Yes," He said at last. "but there's nothing we can do. We need to get to Earth."

He began activating an escape pod. "We can meet up with the professor there and tell him what happened."

"But what if he never makes it either?"

"He will. Come on, he said himself not to wait for him."

Maria nodded and checked over the route the pod was going to take. "We'll be fine there, good choice. I've always wanted to see the ocean."

Before she could make any move, footsteps could be heard pounding down the hall. Shadow jumped and shouted, "Hurry!"

Maria ran towards the pod, but the soldiers had already turned the corner. One of them raised their gun towards Shadow…

"Tell Grandfather good-bye!" Maria screamed, throwing herself in between the soldier and Shadow.

There was a loud CRACK of a bullet escaping the gun. Shadow fell backwards from horror and the escape pod's door closed over him. "Maria! MARIA!"

She managed to lift her head and look up at him. "Sorry…" She whispered. Shadow could barely hear her. "I'm…."

"MARIA!"

The escape pod activated and Shadow was sent hurtling towards Earth without his friend.

XxXxXxXx

"He escaped, sir!" One of the soldiers shouted.

The Commander spun around on one heel and shot the soldier with one smooth move. "I'm well aware of that fact!" He roared.

"S-Sir, what about t-the girl?" Another soldier stuttered.

"Take her back to her grandfather. This I have to see." The Commander snickered, an evil smile playing on his lips.

XxXxXxXx

Gerald hadn't been able to escape in time. He was surrounded in his own lab along with Abraham by many soldiers that wouldn't hesitate to fire if he thought about escaping. At least he knew that his comrades had made it safely to the escape pods.

Everyone…except John.

He had gotten news that his right hand assistant had been killed trying to save Shadow and Maria. How he was going to miss him…

"Hello, Gerald. I have a surprise for you." The Commander entered the lab, a cruel expression on his face. "A rather…shocking surprise, I may add."

Abraham glared at his uncle. "Why did you do this? You killed a lot of people!"

"We had to take action." His uncle said bluntly. He snapped his fingers. "Bring in the professor's granddaughter."

Abraham thought he was hearing things wrong. Did his uncle just say something about Maria? One look at the professor's face confirmed his thoughts. The man was as pale as snow.

He didn't know the true meaning of loss until the soldier brought Maria's dead body into the room.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Abraham screamed, tears filling his eyes. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"What had to be ended," The Commander answered stoically.

"Why did you kill her?" The professor's voice was surprisingly quiet. "What had she ever done to you?"

"In more ways than one, she did more than you alone could have ever possibly done."

Gerald's eyes filled with hatred for the man in front of him. Before he knew what he was doing, he lunged for him and wrapped his hands firmly around his neck.

"No!" Abraham screamed. "You'll end up dead too!"

"Dead's better than this! Anything's better!"the professor roared.

One of the soldiers rammed the back of his gun into Gerald's head, causing him to crumple to the ground where he lay, unconscious.

"He said dead's better than anything, didn't he? Well, then…let's lock him up for a while…make him pay for the deaths he caused." The Commander chuckled. "I believe there's an open high-security cell somewhere on Prison Island."

"FOR THE DEATHS HE'S CAUSED? WHAT ABOUT THE MANY YOUR SOLDIERS KILLED? YOU KILLED MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE ON BOARD THIS PLACE COULD EVER KILL!" Abraham screamed, tears running down his face. "YOU KILLED POSSIBLY MY ONLY FRIEND!"

"You always had a poor choice in judgment, Abraham."

Abraham's eyes burned with the fire of hatred. He stood there, fists clenched and teeth barred until his uncle said, "Send him down to one of the army reserves. I'll pick him up later."

It took three soldiers to finally get the enraged boy to walk towards the escape pods. The Commander smirked and took a communicator out of his pocket. "Commander to Squadron 3; what's the highest security cell available on Prison Island?...perfect. Get everyone together…we're off to catch a runaway experiment."

XxXxXxXx

And I'm sort of sure you guys know where this is going to go.

That's it, actually. This is the most depressing thing I've ever written! AAAGH! Now I'm gonna be depressed all day, and it's only about 9:14 AM!

Read and review, please. Maybe then I won't be depressed.

Hasta la Vista, Readers

Lordoftheghostking28