"I still don't know if you'll be able to hide from the Commander, what about when you need supplies and stuff?" asked Shade, standing in the field that Articzlar had chosen for a landing spot. The robed blue penguin stopped making her calculations on her datapad and looked at him. "We weren'tz only taught howz to fight, youz knowz! We can farm and stuffz too, we wouldn't needz to goez to the city that muchez." She said, nodding to Crimzone as the seer walked up.
"Have you seenz Darkerz?! He isn't with the otherz, and thatz white batz missing too!" the black and red cat asked. Shadow was walking past the threesome, and upon hearing this he stopped in his tracks. "Rouge AND Darkerz are missing? Oh, great....." he muttered sarcastically. Shade and Articzlar stared at him in confusion, but Crimzone nodded.
"Maybez it's because theyz both are spiez!" she said, rolling her eyes. "Ohhhhhh...... I get it. Would you like me to get them?" asked Shade, realization dawning in the penguin's eyes as well. "Yesz, I needz Darkerz to scanz this cave and seez how big it's isz. We want to usez for a basez." Sighed Articzlar, pointing at a large cave at the base of the snowy white mountains.
Completely unaware that the conversation about them was taking place, Darkerz and Rouge were off in the woods not a mile away. They were sitting on a log and kissing each other desperately. The bat had her body pressed against the hedgehogs, her hands on the sides of his face. They had been seeing each other secretly ever since their second meeting, and were deeply in love.
Darkerz pulled away for a couple moments to catch his breath, his arms still wrapped tightly around Rouge's back. "You know, we've been gone for a while, they might come looking for us." She told him, taking a hand off his face to touch the black circle emblazoned on his red head stripe. It was the only thing that separated him from having the same appearance as Shadow, even though their personalities were quite different. "Butz, could theyz find usez if theyz even triedz?" he asked. The white bat seemed to think for a moment, then shook her head. The black hedgehog sighed as she began kissing him again, intoxicated at the feeling of her lips touching his own.
The pair were correct, they had chosen a well hidden spot, and Shade was unable to find them. When he returned alone, Shadow offered to scout the cave for the penguin. "If I know Rouge, they aren't going to back for a long while, and it would be risky to wait out in the open with everyone." He told them. Articzlar nodded and watched as he entered the cave.
The opening itself was small, enough for maybe two people to enter, and it was covered with foliage. But when the hedgehog found himself inside, he realized that the interior was huge. It took him nearly an hour to explore the entire thing, even with his superspeed. The blue penguin had chosen a good first base, thought Shadow as he left it.
"It's big enough for pretty much anything you want, there's even an area I couldn't check out, somesort of underwater tunnel in a lake in there." He told her. Unlike most hedgehog's, he and his son could swim, supposedly because they were ultimate lifeforms. She nodded and smiled happily as she turned to signal to the others that it was all right to enter.
It was nearly nightfall, and Shadow walked over to the Black Arms Ship that they had stolen looking for his son. He found Shade onboard, standing with Atlantis on the empty bridge. The two hedgehogs were holding each other, and even though they weren't kissing, Shadow didn't walk in and bother them, as they had obviously chosen this spot for some privacy. Atlantis looked like she might have been crying again, and no doubt his son was comforting her. Instead he wondered what Coral and Tails were doing.
He walked down some hallways and on the other end of the huge fighter ship, he saw the hedgehog and the fox playing with their chao, Chug. "We're trying to get him to wear this bandana!" the pair had told him before he left. Shadow left the ship to see the moon in full glow, a great round circle. "Alone again." he sighed, remembering how so many years ago Sheeva had given him company. He wiped away a tear and wondered when Darkerz and Rouge were returning.
In that moment the two lovestruck creatures were heading back towards the ship, talking as they went. "You know you look a lot like Shadow? But even so, you're like, totally different, I've known him for years, and he isn't anything like you!" Rouge told him, holding his hand. His eyes did not meet hers when he answered. "I knowz." He said.
She stopped walking when he said this, suspicious. "What are you not telling us? I know that you, Articzlar and Crimzone are hiding something, what is it?" she asked, taking her hand and moving his head so that he was forced to look her in the eyes. She saw fear there, as if he were ashamed to reveal something.
He turned away and paused. "Rougez, we were createdz for the solez purpose to conquer, butz I had a more specific reasonz for being madez." The black hedgehog became silent for a couple minutes, until the bat walked up and put her arms around him. "Tell me." She said as he continued to stare at the stars.
I heardz the Doomez talking aboutz me. They wantedz me to murderz Shadow. They calledz him the 'Abomination' of their racez, and hatesz himz. I stayz away fromz himz, if he foundez out, hez might attackz me whenz I not lookingz." The black hedgehog finished, his body trembling.
Rouge hugged him to her with a sad sigh. "Darkerz, he wouldn't do that. Look at the Commander that lived aboard the Ark when Shadow was created, he hates Shadow. He's tried to kill him many times, but because of his promise to Maria, he only flees from the government, rarely does he fight back. There was one time before Shade was even born, before he had ever met Sheeva, that GUN had him surrounded. Rather than fighting and killing them in order to save his own life, he turned his gun on himself, and if I hadn't been there to stop him, he would have committed suicide in preference to being taken alive, not knowing what kind of experiments they would have tried to carry out on him." Rouge explained.
Darkerz seemed less frightened after she said this, becoming a bit more relaxed at hearing that Shadow did not enjoy killing for no reason. Rouge reached up and touched her lips to his again, pressing herself to him so suddenly that Darkerz lost his balance and fell over.
The bat fell with him, and they hesitated for a minute, the hedgehog lying in the grass with the girl on top of him. They stared into each others eyes for a moment, then began kissing fiercely. It was nearly ten minutes before they stopped, and then they sat up, gasping for breath.
"Hmph. After all these years of strange missions and adventures and hanging around Shadow and Shade, I finally find someone I love, and I never would have dreamed it would be you. You look so much like them but are yet so different, I guess that goes to prove that everyone's got something special about them, no matter how much they look like someone else!" she said with a smile. Darkerz grinned back at her, filled with happiness.
Shadow was still standing outside, just in-between the Black Arms' ship and the Base Cavern, as Crimzone and Articzlar had decided to call it. As he stared at the moon, he heard someone coming up behind him. He turned and saw a dark black and purple hedgehog walking up, holding a small bundle.
"Nice nightz, hunh?" she said. Shadow nodded, wondering why she was even out at this hour. "I askingz people namez ideas for babyz. What youz think?" she said, showing him the small bundle was actually a child, looking just a couple days old. Shadow blinked in suprise, then remembered that the journey itself from the Black Arms' planet had taken about two months, plenty of time for a hedgehog to have a child. Articzlar had not wanted to use the ships hyperengine too much, fearing the aliens would detect it if used extensively.
He realized that the little one was girl, with unique, bright golden colored fur. Shadow stared at her, sudden memories of his days with Maria coming to him, she had the same color hair as the baby. The mother saw him looking, and seeing the strange emotion in his eyes, knew that he felt deeply for the small one. "Wantz to hold herz?" she asked, holding the babe out to him.
Shadow took the child carefully, it had been years since he had held anything so tender and delicate. The girl opened her eyes and they stared into each others eyes for what seemed an eternity, but in reality was only a couple minutes. Handing her back to her mother, Shadow turned back and looked up at the moon. "Maria." He said before becoming silent once more. The female hedgehog walked off with the child, her decision made.
The next morning, Shade awoke to the ground shaking beneath him. His father jumped out of the bed next to his, and they rushed out of the room together. Their fears were true, the GUN forces had found them. But the commander was not a fool. Because his men wouldn't follow his orders to kill Shadow, he was using robots and mech beings to attack, and the explosion that the two hedgehogs had felt was the other side of the ship being blown to pieces.
The structure that they had been standing on heaved, unable to contain its wait with half of the landing gear destroyed. Leaping off, the father and son separated, moving away to defend the base. Shadow stopped however, hearing a faint crying coming from the flames behind him. He leapt into them and picked up a large, heavy piece of metal, grunting as he flipped it over. Underneath was the female hedgehog he had seen last night with her child, she had been crushed by the heavy weight of the machinery, but the child in her arms was unharmed.
As Shadow reached down, he saw her dying eyes flicker open as he put his arms around the little one to take her. "She...... is...... Maria........" she said before closing her eyes for the last time. The dark hedgehog put his hand to her face and felt that she was gone, and looking at the tiny girl in his arms, he dashed away to take her to safety.
Shade on the other hand, had taken out the attack robots and gone to look for Atlantis. Coral and Tails were safe, they had been staying in the cave, and it was the ship that was attacked. He found her with the remains of a huge GUN robot trapping her lower body from the waist down. He pulled it off and helped her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" he asked as she put her arms around him in a hug. Then, she moved forward and kissed him firmly. "Yes, I'm fine, but I don't think Shadow is." She said, pointing over to the woods nearby. "What do you mean?!" the black hedgehog said fearfully. "I don't think he's hurt physically, but I saw him........" At this, Shade grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him as he raced towards the forest.
Shadow heard his son coming, and turned as he came running up, the small child still in his arms. "Father, what's................." Shade stopped, stunned at the sight of the golden-furred child. "She........ she just....... died.............. Maria..........." Shadow stuttered, his eyes filled with tears.
Suddenly, Shade understood. The mother of this child died as his father was saving her, and not only did it remind him of Sheeva's death, because it had been the government that caused it, it brought back memories of Maria as well. He had never seen his father this way, so emotional, except for once…
It was not long before Shadow talked with Articzlar and Crimzone about the little one. They told him that the child's father had also been killed in the attack, before even the mother was. The blue penguin moved to take the little one from him, but the red and black cat stopped her. "The child must stayz with Shadowz. I see it, she is differentz from even usez, she belongs withz him." She said, ending the discussion.
Shadow was shocked that they wanted him to take care of the small baby, it had been so long since he had done so, and he hoped he would remember how. "So......... What is her name?" Shade asked him as his friends huddled around him as he fed her a bottle. She sucked on it hungrily, her feeble arms trying to grip it. The dark hedgehog holding her sighed before he answered. "Maria." He said. Maria finished suckling it, and closed her blue eyes to go to sleep in contentment.
Shadow felt now that he was no longer alone, caring for the child. He figured that even though he wasn't her father, but her guardian, there was little difference. He cared for her as if she were his own, never letting her out of his sight, even when she went to take naps, he held her, not daring to leave her alone for even a few minutes. Just as he had done with Shade.
The GUN forces had not returned, but he knew that the commander was not one to just retreat and give up. The enemy would return, he knew it, once they had regrouped and gathered more weapons, the drones and battle robots would be back. Shadow was correct, for it was not but a few days later when they did show up again, this time in the middle of the night.
The black hedgehog was lying on the ground at the edge of the forest, his back to a large tree trunk. He had covered Maria and himself with a small blanket, the tiny hedgehog snuggled against his chest fur and sleeping deeply. Shadow himself was nearly asleep when he heard noises coming close. His eyes shot open as a squad of living GUN troops surrounded them, their new specialized guns loaded with tranquilizers and nets.
The commander had sworn that if the troops chose to obey, he would have his enemy captured alive. The troops wouldn't kill Shadow, but some of them didn't mind capturing him for a little extra money. Shadow thought for a moment, then shifted the blanket slightly, attempting to keep Maria hidden from their view. "Make it easy and surrender, the Commander has given his word that you will not be harmed." The guard leader said, nervously shifting the heavy gun on his shoulder.
The black hedgehog knew he had no choice, if it had been just him, he would have fought, but he didn't want to risk the little one being harmed in the struggle. He stood, keeping the blanket around himself and making sure that they couldn't see the golden child in his arms. "Fine. I'll go with you quietly, but I will not be restrained in any way." He said.
They nodded, and motioned for him to follow, keeping their tranquilizer guns trained on him. Shadow was suprised when he realized that the Commander had not attacked the others, instead he had only come for Shadow, and Shade. The black hedgehog's eyes went wide as he saw his son lying unconscious in a cage guarded with lasers. They must have sent two groups separately, and Shade had obviously not given in quietly.
They took Shadow through the camp, stopping in front of the Commander. The hundreds of troops watched tensely as he addressed the hedgehog that he loathed. "Show us that you are unarmed." He said, his face hard. Shadow could feel the tiny child's heart beating while she slept, and knew that he had to keep her concealed as long as possible. He shook his head and didn't say anything. At this, the Commander called forward a soldier with a tranquilizer gun. "Do it, or we'll make sure in our own way."
The hedgehog knew he was in a corner, and had no choice again. It was better for him to reveal Maria while he was alert, and not when he was being drugged by the serum, and there was also the chance that the dart would hit her instead of him. If he had to run, he wanted to be awake for it. The blanket dropped from around him, and a gasp arose in the army when they saw her.
"So, that's why you surrendered. Take her." Said the Commander, signaling to the guard. Shadow took a step backwards, holding her protectively. "Try it and I will break your neck!!" he said, bringing the soldier to a fearful halt. Shadow and the Commander glared at each other for a couple moments, the tension cackling in the air. The hedgehog's fur was on standing on end, and a growl was beginning to rise from deep in his chest. "Restrain him like the other, then report back."
Shadow allowed himself to be led to a cage similar to Shade's, and kept his eyes open in case they tried something funny as they locked him in. He could feel his rage building, but pushed it down. Defying them would bring nothing now, and could be harm to Maria.
The hedgehog knew he would have to accept this for now, no matter how degrading and humiliating it was. A couple minutes later, the soldiers returned. Using a crane, they lifted the cage onto a small everyday truck. It was so large and heavy Shadow realized, that they couldn't lift it themselves. The bright lights of the GUN camp were blotted out as they threw a heavy brown tarp over him and fastened the cage down.
How clever, he thought, if anyone comes looking for me, it'll be a GUN vehicle they'll be searching for, not an unmarked pickup truck with a covered box in it. Leaning against the cage bars, he sighed as Maria woke up. She whimpered and he held her closer, giving her comfort.
The small child felt the beating of his heart against her body and relaxed, feeling reassured and protected. Putting a hand in her mouth, she stared up at him and made a soft sound that sounded like a coo. Shadow frowned at this. She was hungry, and he didn't have anything to give her. Maria continued sucking on her hand as helpless tears fell from his eyes. He could only remember feeling this way a few times in his life. The moment he saw Maria the human dying, and when his love had been killed.
Shadow looked up as someone lifted a flap of the tarp, a soldier looking in at them. The uniformed man glanced sideways to see if he was being watched, then slipped a small carton of milk through the laser bars of the cage. "Shhhhh! Don't want anyone to know!" the guard whispered, disappearing as suddenly as he had came. The black hedgehog wiped the tears from his face as he picked up the carton, smiling at the remembrance that not all humans seemed as heartless as they looked.
The ride was bumpy and long, and the wind ripped at the tarp as the truck sped toward it's destination, but it remained in place firmly, keeping the inside of the cage dark. Maria was silent during the entire trip, her trusting eyes blinking up at her guardian. Shadow had managed to keep the blanket and had wrapped her in it for extra warmth.
He had fallen asleep shortly after the ride began, but not before taking the time to pull the brambles out of his feet. When the troops had first captured him, he hadn't had his shoes or his gloves on, having been sleeping. They hadn't given him time to pick them up off the ground, and if he had tried they might have shot him. After a couple hours, she too fell asleep, her body rising and falling with his breathing as he held her to his chest.
The black hedgehog was awakened by the truck coming to a jerking halt. He fell over in the cage, still holding Maria. The Commander had hoped for this, catching him off his guard, the cage opening and someone slipping a heavy chain around Shadow's neck. It tightened mercilessly as the security of his small prison was completely shut down and he was dragged out of the truck.
He fought violently as he felt hands reaching to take Maria from him, biting, punching and kicking with all his strength. They backed off, all but the one holding the chain on his neck. Shadow glanced around and realized that he was no longer in the company of the GUN soldiers. The men surrounding him wore laboratory coats, and he trembled as he saw that this was a government laboratory. No, not this again, he thought frantically. The black hedgehog had had enough when he had been imprisoned by Bujin.
The scientist with his chain began dragging him inside, the heavy metal digging into his throat and choking him as he was forced to follow. "Get those rods ready, this one's even worse than the last!" he yelled. Shadow watched, terrified as more of the men in lab-coats surrounded them, holding long sticks that looked like cattle prods. "........I....... won't....... fight.......!" he choked out, fearing that if he tried to pull the chain on his neck loose that they would snatch Maria from him.
When he said this, they backed off a little, but not much, and the scientist holding the chain allowed it to slack, just enough so that he could breath more easily. Shadow finally got a look at the man's face, grayed hair and wrinkles meant this human was older in age. There was something about him though… If only I could look at his eyes, he thought, staring at the scientist's goggles. "Alright, but one false move and you'll regret it. Those are some high powered rods, the Commander ordered us to use them specifically for you." the man said, giving the chain a tug for him to walk forward.
Shadow kept his arms around the little one that was trembling as he held her, glancing around nervously as they took him inside and put him in yet another cell. It was bigger than his last, with a small plate of food and some water. They pulled out another tranquilizer and began approaching him slowly.
They want to take the chain off my neck, he thought. "No, don't! I won't fight, as long as you leave the little one alone, I'll do anything you want!" he said as they raised the gun, attempting to make himself look harmless and afraid for Maria's sake. The first scientist that had held his chain put a hand on the machine, lowering it. "Wait." He told them, stepping forward. Staring at Shadow through his glasses, the man reached down and carefully undid the chain, backing away when he was finished. "All right, let's go." He said, turning to lock the door behind him.
"Uh, just a second!" Shadow said before he walked away. The scientist looked at him questioningly. "Could I have some milk for her, please?" the hedgehog asked him timidly. He knew the best way to get away was to play on them, make them think that he was weak and get them to trust him. Then he could find a way to escape, and if they ever tried to take Maria from him, he would be over his dead body. The man nodded, then walked off.
Shadow sniffed the plate of mushed food that smelled foul, and then he glared at the water bottle that he guessed he was supposed to drink from. Not bothering with either, he decided he'd rather starve then allow himself to be treated like a dumb animal. No doubt the Commander told them to treat him like this.
It wasn't long before Shadow learned that Shade was being kept on the other side of the complex, and from the sound of it, he wasn't cooperating. At first, the scientist's left him alone for a couple days, coming by to check on him and bring him food, water, and something for Maria. He went without though, and it seemed to intrigue the scientists that he wouldn't eat or drink, and the hedgehog could feel himself growing slowly weaker.
He listened in on their conversations, and they always seemed to be comparing him to the other black hedgehog that was at the lab. The humans couldn't figure out where Shade's other half of genes and chromozones had come from, they didn't even consider the fact that Shadow could have loved. They thought this hedgehog was supposed to be a perfect clone, but it had defects.
They wondered why the two looked so much alike but acted so different. One was timid and submissive, but the other was loud and aggressive. Shadow knew that his son had no intention of going down without a fight, and feared for his safety.
On the third morning, five of the scientists came up to his cage, wearing gloves and holding the tranquilizer gun again. Shadow didn't like the look of it, they were all wearing goggles, and toting a metal stretcher on wheels. He should have known there would have been a consequence for not eating or drinking. Shrinking to the back of his cage, he held Maria to him protectively.
"NO!" he said as they entered, aiming the gun at him. "Don't resist, it will be painless. We aren't going to kill you. Just give us the little one." The lead man said. "Never! You'll never get her from me while I live!" the hedgehog said as they advanced. "We won't harm her, and we'll return her to you when we're finished. Don't make us do this the hard way!" he warned.
"What do you want from me?! As if you humans haven't done enough to me, now you want to experiment on my body?! I was entrusted with Maria and I'll protect her as long as I have life in me, you'll have to kill me first!" Shadow said, showing his teeth menacingly.
The man suddenly stopped, his hand on the trigger. "What did you call her?" he asked, his voice sounding suprised. Shadow blinked, who was this man? It was the same one from the first day, the old one who had taken the risk of removing his chain by hand. "Maria." The dark hedgehog said. The elder scientist turned and gave the others a sort of hand signal, and they left, leaving the three alone.
The scientist lifted up the goggles he had been wearing since Shadow had first seen him, and the hedgehog gasped in shock, finally recognizing the eyes. "Prof.....?" he began.
"Professor Roberts. I was not on the Ark when it was shut down. I had been transferred just days before the military came to shut it down, and only heard that there was a tragic accident onboard. I had wondered what become of you, as I was only a young boy genius in training at the time. Not long ago I heard the Commander talking about you, you see, after he found out that I had been on the Ark also, he kept me as his lead scientist, believing that I shared his views and thoughts. He had you sent here because of me, in thinking that I would hate you and treat you badly." The scientist began explaining, resting the gun against the wall.
"Yeah well it looks like he was right, with you wanting to experi......!" "I wasn't going to experiment on you, Shadow. As you should remember, Professor Gerald gave you many health checks when you were with him, and not knowing what to expect, it was my opinion that you should be restrained. You haven't eaten or even drank in days, and although you are the ultimate lifeform, you do need those things eventually." Roberts interrupted him.
A pause went throught the room as the hedgehog thought for a moment. "So, what have you done to Shade?" he asked. Roberts gave him a puzzled look. "The other black hedgehog that looks like me." Shadow finished. The man shook his head sadly.
"We had to knock him out to do anything to him. Ran a couple bloodtests and made sure that the tranquilizers weren't having a negative affect on him. We've had to pump so much into him to make sure he's fully knocked out that we were afraid that it might be too much of an overdose. The level's all right now, but if he keeps it up it could poison him, and we have to protect ourselves. He tried to strangle me when he first got here, and he nearly succeeded!" the man sighed before continuing.
" And quite like you, he won't take anything willingly, so when he's knocked out, we I.V. him. He has some of your DNA, but also someone else's, so I'm supposing that this wasn't the first time you've been in a laboratory, and he was the end result of..........." Shadow interrupted, slightly smug about the fact that they hadn't even thought of the possibility. "No, he isn't just some random experiment. He's my son. Let me talk to him, I can get him to be less resilient." The hedgehog said, pleased that Maria had fallen asleep in his arms again.
The Professor stared at him for a moment, slightly abashed. "If he's your.......... Then is that your daughter?!" Roberts asked. Shadow stroked the golden hedgehog's face and closed his eyes. "Now she is. She has no one else. The attack by the Commander killed her parents, but not before they named her. Maria is my little one now." He said, not looking up, still gazing at her.
Roberts was silent for a couple minutes, then smiled as he spoke. "I can't just let you run around the lab, though I wish I could. The least that can be done is to have you on a chained leash whenever you want to be out. The Commander still hates you, but I see now that it really is him who should be locked up. Would you like to see your son now, I still have to follow orders and do the health check on you anyway."
Shadow allowed the professor to put a metal ring around his neck and attach it to a chained leash, even though it felt highly degrading. It wasn't tight, but it wasn't loose either, and he would shift it whenever it became too uncomfortable.
As he followed Roberts, the scientist explained more. "I'll find you a nicer room, something with a bed in it, and you can fix it however you like. And I'll just tell the Commander that you wouldn't eat anything unless it was normal food, that should work. Don't worry about the others though, the staff here will treat you respectfully, they'll understand. All of us are close friends, so they'll believe me when I tell them you're not dangerous. We'll just have to be careful and make sure we follow regulations, keeping you restrained in the hallways and things like that. And we'll have to see about getting playthings for Maria." He said with a wink.
They continued on, and they came to a halt before turning a particular corner. "Now, please keep in mind that he did this to himself, we haven't been beating him, or anything of the sort. He injures himself when he gets disoriented from the tranqs'." The Professor said, waiting for Shadow to nod before they continued.
Shadow gasped at the sight. Shade was lying in a corner of his secured room, nursing bruises and cuts on his face. "Open the door please." Shadow said, not moving his gaze. Roberts hesitated for a moment, then unlocked it. Shade shot up, preparing to make a run for it. "Shade, stop! Before you do anything, listen to me first." His father said, still holding Maria.
After the explanation, Shade agreed to behave himself, but Shadow was not angry with him. "You only did what I surely would have done if I had not feared for Maria." His father had told him. "Is it possible that we can stay together?" Shadow asked Roberts.
"Unfortunately no. The Commander said specifically that you had to be in separate rooms, as he told me to make every attempt to take Maria from you, but as you can see I'll just tell him that it wasn't possible, and that she wouldn't eat without you and it would have meant her death." The man said, attaching a leash to a disgruntled Shade.
"How long are we going to be here?" he asked, attempting to rub his neck under his collar. The scientist was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "The Commander......." he began. "Let me guess," Shadow interrupted, "the Commander wants us here for as long as we are alive, hoping that torture and lack of freedom will cause us to go insane so he can have an excuse to kill us?" Roberts nodded.
"Hit it on the head, Shadow. He doesn't want you to ever leave." He said. "But........ I can't stay here forever! I........ Atlantis......... I just can't!!" Shade said, looking mournful. "I wouldn't mind staying here actually. It would mean that Maria would be safe. But Shade cannot. He has another life, he.......... He just can't live her forever, because he WILL go insane!" Shadow admitted.
Professor Roberts looked at them with pity. "I can't let you go, I'm sorry." He said, but gave Shadow a long look of rebellious understanding before winking. Then he nodded toward a wall, where Shadow saw a small recording machine jacked into the wall. "Those are all over the place, you can't escape them, at least they aren't watching us, those nasty little bugs just seem to infest the lab." The professor said, acting as if he were speaking about insects, but the two dark hedgehogs knew he was talking about cameras and such. They nodded, understanding. The professor was going to help Shade escape, but it would be risky.
The next day, an accident occurred, or so it seemed. The lab-workers had shot Shade with a tranquilizer to knock him out, but had made an error in the dosage. Thinking he was out cold, they unlocked the door, and he escaped. They were unable to track him, as the hedgehog had found the device under his skin and ripped it out, so they lost him.
Professor Roberts brought this news to Shadow, who was staying in a room almost as nice as his own, except that it locked from the outside. "We couldn't catch him, he was just too fast. The Commander will be most displeased, and even though they will most likely chase him, I don't think they will find him." Roberts said, keeping his tone neutral because of the listening devices. "Thanks for telling me." The black hedgehog said, giving Roberts a look of appreciation for taking such a risk.
The scientist had given him shoes and gloves identical to the ones he had before, as the Commander hadn't said anything about that. A crib for the infant hedgehog proved useless, as she wouldn't sleep unless she was in Shadow's arms. And so, the black hedgehog started to settle down a bit, knowing he would be here for a while, that is, until Maria was older.
It was nearly midnight when Shade arrived back at the first landing site where the others had chosen to make their base. It had been nearly a week since he had been gone, and he returned to see that it had been abandoned. Or that was what he thought at first. After looking around for a while, he entered the cave and found it empty.
The hedgehog shook his head and turned to leave it when he felt a sobbing person leap out at him from the darkness, knocking him over. "Where were you?! I thought you ran away!!" Atlantis cried, tears flowing down her cheeks as she held onto him tightly. She pressed her face into his chest and continued sobbing.
Shade put his arms around her and lifted her face so that she was looking into his eyes. "I would never run away from you, Atlantis, ever! GUN captured me, and my father. He chose to remain behind, having found friends to help him raise Maria, but they allowed me to escape. I would have died if they had forced me to stay there without you!" he said, suddenly forcing her lips to his.
Atlantis kissed him back, wrapping herself around him. He returned the motion, entwining his body around hers. They trembled and continued kissing each other hungrily, tightly embraced together on the cave floor. Their love and the pain of having been separated for so long combining. It was a long while before they stopped, completely out of breath.
Atlantis slowly untangled herself from him, her clothes soaked in sweat. "We need to tell the others, they've been worried sick. If you ever go missing like that again, I won't heed their warnings, and I'll go searching for you." she said as they stood. "Sounds good to me......." Shade said, but he didn't follow her. "What is it now?" she asked as he stared at the floor.
"I................ Atlantis, that was a real close one, if the people I had been captured by hadn't been soft hearted, I wouldn't have escaped." He muttered, shifting his gaze to a pebble on the floor. The girl put an arm around him, trying to understand, but he blurted it out before she had a chance. "Will you marry me?!" the hedgehog next to her said, turning to look at yet another pebble. For her answer, Atlantis took his head in her hands and looked deep into his eyes as she kissed him again.