Lost Impact

She felt so weak. She felt so scared. She felt so useless.

This wasn't how she remembered growing up.

Running through Ark's halls, her feet dragging her along a predestined path, she searched valiantly for her friend. He had to be here somewhere! Anywhere! He was always there when she needed him, so why not now? Where did that little fur ball go!?

"Look out!" some one called, gaining her attention.

Blue eyes shooting up, she saw one of the Artificial Chaos floating above her. The silver headed water beast locked its eyesight on her, and thus attacked. A liquidy limb shot forward like wind. But Maria would not be deterred. She leaped out-of-the-way, landed on her hands, and cartwheeled herself to safety. This may have been a flashback, but her G.U.N. training was still in tact. The water strike struck the ground, and caused a visible dent to appear. If it did that to steel, there was no telling what it would do to her. Her eyes moved back to the Artificial Chaos above her. Once again, it pulled back, before lunging forward. Maria raised her hands in defense.

An explosion occurred.

The Artificial Chaos exploded, and water was thrown every which way. Strangely, the fake water god split into various pieces, all made of metal and machine. The head of the Artificial Chaos remained, and tried its hardest to pull together its pieces. Maria was safe for now.

Her blue eyes looked away to the G.U.N. soldiers who defended her. One of them was armed with a rocket, the very rocket used to save her. She gave a courteous wave, before continuing on her run.

"Hey! Find safety!" one guard roared.

For now she would ignore them.

The door she ran to slid open, revealing to her yet another hallway. At that moment, a body was flung into the wall, causing yet another dent. The G.U.N. soldier groveled in pain, as he slowly loss conciousness. Maria got closer, and closer to his still body. Down the hall, an Artificial Chaos. All around it, the bodies of those it defeated. Some were guards, some were scientists. Maria gave a saddened and fearful look. Why hadn't this flashback ended yet?

She turned to the body before her. He wasn't moving, well, not purposely, at least. Save for the twitch every now and then, he was completely immobile. Maria took the gun in his hand. Holding the rifle in her hands felt so different. In reality she was 24, not 12. But... it felt so awful holding this gun, as if she was some kind of beast. But it was either her, or that Artificial Chaos. Flashbacks be damned, she was protecting herself.

Holding the gun, she at first, found it awkward to hold, since she was in a younger body. After a minute though, she adjusted, and held it like her usual self. Pulling back on the rifle's lever, she started firing. Bullets tore through the sky, and entered the Artificial Chaos' body. It did nothing. The fake water god shifted its attention to Maria, and started to approach her. Seeing this, Maria began to mentally curse herself. She had no idea how to deal with a being such as this!

The Artificial Chaos struck a limb forward. At quick speeds, Maria dodged it, only for the attack to graze her side. She was thrown back by the strike, and it caused pain to ripple through her body. However, she wouldn't be stopped, not so easily. 12-year-old body be damned!

She got up, and glared holes at the foe before her. Right now, she wished she could use her meta human powers, but her 12-year-old body seemed to lack that ability. Strange... she would have to remember that when this was all over. Regardless, she wasn't scared of this being. She would just have to figure out a way to stop it, that's all. Thinking she began to go over in her head all of G.U.N. weapons. Then she remembered! Yes, the Artificial Chaos! This was one of the reasons why Space Colony Ark was shut down! She remembered now! And she remembered how to stop it!

The water machine struck forward, and she dodged it via a back flip. Landing away, she trained her rifle's iron sights on the Artificial Chaos' head. Pulling on the trigger, she sent the rifle's powerful pullets ripping through the air. At first, it did nothing to the Artificial Chaos' head, but then, it suddenly exploded. The small metallic pieces of the Artificial Chaos tried to return to one being, but Maria wouldn't allow it. Letting her rifle scream, she sent bullets into each individual piece of the faux water god. Though it took only a few seconds, it felt like forever to Maria. The water machine finally fell, and its pieces shattered into multiple pieces.

Maria's arms fell over as she came to terms with what she did. Had she been an adult, this would have never happened! Her 12-year-old body was simply not used to such action. If she continued this, she might fall out sooner or later. Well, that was just more reason to find Shadow.

Slowly, she removed the blue shoes she wore. They were just to dainty, and to tight for her to run in. If she was going to find Shadow, she'd need to be faster, and the only way to do that, was by removing her shoes. Once her toes were free of the small blue clothing, she took off. Rushing down the hall toward the automatic doors was exhilarating. She wasn't as fast as she is in her adult body, but she was still pretty fast, powers or not. Maybe it was the fear that was pushing her.

The many G.U.N. soldiers she passed seemed to ignore her, as they were to busy fighting some of Artificial Chaos. Had they noticed her appearance, they may have kept some of their snickers silent.

"I knew we couldn't trust him..."

"That scientist is mad!"

"They've killed so many already! I thought they were finding cures up here, not making weapons!"

Maria shook her head at the words. She just needed to find Shadow.

Suddenly she tripped up. Landing on her chest, she almost bashed her head against the floor. That would've been bad, surely enough. Still, it was by no coincidence that she tripped. She could feel the liquid substance around her ankles. She shook, and twisted, but it was still there. It just wouldn't let go.

Turning around, she faced her attacker. The Artificial Chaos glared at her with red eyes, as it raised another liquid tentacle. It struck forward, and Maria juked to the left. Although she was on the ground, she was still able to dodge the attack, albeit barely. It struck her arm, and tore into her blouse, while also sending blood flying. Not deterred by the damaging blow, the future G.U.N. agent fired her gun at the faux water god's head. It tore through its liquid body, and struck its center, causing it to explode into many mechanical pieces. Slowly, the separate Artificial Chaos Drones began to recombine, so they could become full once again. But Maria wouldn't allow this. Her eyes moved about the room, where it eventually found a dead soldier. She crawled to him quickly, tore the gun belt from around his waist, and withdrew one of the grenades he had on hand. She pulled off the pin, gazed over to the Artificial Chaos, and threw it. The drone's had finally become one, but the grenade landed in its midst. The explosion was great, and it ended the Artificial Chaos, before it could become whole again.

Maria fell back, as her heart raced. The rifle in her hand had long since run out of ammo, leaving her with little to do but find some more. Shifting her attention to the dead soldier she scavenged, she checked him thoroughly. He had no weapons on him, save for once combat knife. That may have been the reason why he died so soon. So, she took the knife, and wrapped his gun belt around her waist. Dropping the rifle, she made her way down the hall.

The door slid open, and all Maria saw was destruction. The Artificial Chaos sure did work fast. The walls were bashed and dented, the floors were showing wires and sparks, and the ceiling had many fixtures falling from it. Her arm met her forehead, as she dragged sweat away. Fantastic...

She started off down the destroyed hall, dodging fire, wires, and other mechanical wonders. One of them fell atop her, and she quickly cartwheeled out-of-the-way. Landing safely on the other end, she leaped over a series of wires with a gracious leap. If she kept this up, she would get tired quickly. Curse this twelve-year-old body! Still...

She started running off down the hall, and it eventually shifted from destroyed, to not so destroyed. Still, she felt as if someone, or something, was following her. But every time she gazed around, she saw nothing. It was getting to the point of paranoia, as Maria was so sure she was being followed. She needed to kick up her speed, or else. But damn that feeling! Where was it!? She knew it was here! Just where!? Above her...

She looked up, and saw the liquid body of an Artificial Chaos. Immediately, she regretted stopping. The liquid machine struck forward, and Maria suddenly found her body scooped up in its powerful arms. She struggled as best she could, but it just wouldn't let go. Seconds later, she felt its liquid limbs crawl up her body. Maria tensed up, as she was slowly being submerged. No, it wasn't going to kill her quickly like it did so many others. This one wanted to drown her, it seems. Her head went under, and her eyes widened. Oddly, she felt it so hard to breathe. Her training had prepared for this! But, oh, that's right, she was 12 again, not 24, her body wasn't used to this yet. Now that she came to terms with this, it still didn't make things any easier.

She forced forward her hands, and tried her hardest to swim through the great creature's body. She could see the Artificial Chaos' head, that would be her way out. She swam through the machine's body, and eventual came to its center. Raising the knife she brought with her, she drove it forward. It wedged itself into the god's head, and sent cords flying. The mechanical beast thus exploded, and Maria was thrown away. Landing back onto the metal ground, she groaned as pain shot up her young body.

"Oh, my, God..." she murmured as she gazed at the ceiling.

"Maria?" his indifferent voice called.

Her blue eyes shot around the hall. Still drenched in water, she struggled to her feet. The first thing she saw, was his red and white air shoes. Seconds later, her head moved up, to see the rest of him.

Here Shadow stood before her. He was wielding a grenade launcher, while a look of concern was placed firmly on his face. His ruby eyes traveled up and down Maria's frame, as he took in the sights of her injuries.

"Oh, Maria!" he said, with greater urgency, "What happened to you!?"

He laid his hands along her shoulders, as she brushed his fingers alongside her wounds.

Boy, was this strange. Maria couldn't remember the last time someone showed concern toward her injuries. In G.U.N. they always told you to suck it up, and keep going.

"No, this isn't good!" Shadow stated, his hand finding the wound on her arm where she was bleeding, "Maria, what happened to you!?"

"Shadow..." she whimpered... that was all she could say.

"Damn those Artificial Chaos!" he said, fist shaking, "I'll make them pay!"

"Shadow..." she murmured once more.

"Just stay here, Maria, I'll take care of everything!"

"No! Shadow!" she barked.

He flinched at her words. And... for some reason, she couldn't understand why she did so. Gazing into Shadow's ruby eyes, she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. Here he was, Shadow the hedgehog, in the flesh... sorta. Here was the being that she had so many visions of. Here he was... alive... real...

"Maria," he said, touching her face, "what's gotten into you?"

He felt so warm. She bent to the touch. Her eyes closed, and she focused only on that.

"Maria?"

"There's... something wrong..." she murmured, "The Artificial Chaos... they've broken loose..."

Why did she tell him that? Did he not know already?

"We... we need to destroy them..." she finished.

"I'm already ahead of you..." he answered.

...

The beeps of the heart monitor echoed in perfect succession. That was weird. Maria just fell out, right after she touched that strange jewel. Odder still, touching that jewel made the temple shake, as if it were some battery of sorts. Ivo couldn't figure out why.

"So strange..." he murmured as he stroked his mustache, "I've touched that thing many times, and it never did anything." he got closer to his unconscious cousin, "What did you do, Maria dear?"

Here he stood, in a makeshift hospital room. Like the rest of his base, it made its home in some random temple ruin. The only difference was it wasn't as cramped with its many cords. The dusty floors remained the same, however.

Maria was going to be here a while, he could tell. Just call it a doctor's hunch. He didn't feel to bad though. This would give him some time to come up with a new plan, more specifically, a plan to steal G.U.N.'s Chaos Emerald. If he got his hands on one of those, he'd be invincible! He just needed to build a few more Badniks. Speaking of which...

One of his robot's barged into his door. If it could make a face, it would be frantic and scared. Lifting the pincer like hands it owned, it produced a series of awkward clicks. Eggman nodded.

"I see..." he murmured, "So we have an intruder, huh?"

The robot nodded.

"Fine then! I'll have to deal with this! Fortify our defenses, and prepare to enter cloaking mode!"

The robot once again nodded, and left the room seconds later. Eggman stepped back, as he assessed the information. Glyphic Canyon was the perfect base! Between the canyon walls, the dusty storms, and the rampant tornadoes, there was no way anyone could get inside! He knew Maria could get in, because she was a super soldier. As far as he knew, G.U.N. had no other soldiers of her caliber. So... what the hell? Who else could have come here, and gotten so close that none of his alarm systems went off till now? Well, he would find out soon.

He moved over near Maria's body, and reached under the gurney she slept in. Bringing back out his hand, he held a big, bulky, and quite cartoonish, looking gun. It may have looked stupid,but it was actually a lot deadlier than it let on. It was a laser cannon, and quite possibly, it was Eggman's most destructive weapon. Able to heat up objects at super human speeds, he could caused them to erupt into flames, or exploded on the spot. Or, he could just shoot them, that was always cool too. Eggman may not have been a fighter, but his weapons said otherwise.

He exited the room, while he held onto his laser cannon with two hands. Passing some Badniks, he ordered them to guard Maria with there mechanical lives. Traveling down the temple halls, he eventually came to the main command room. All of his Badniks. Each and everyone, was dead. If he was disappointed, he sure didn't show it.

"Always the Badniks," he murmured instead, "can't someone please not dismantle them?"

Well, at least it showed someone was in the room.

He lifted his laser cannon, and held it in the style of a rifle. Moving slowly along the halls, he searched for his assailant. Whoever it was, he or she was here, he could feel it. He just needed them to make a mistake.

Suddenly, his face met a fist.

He was flung back by the blow, and landed on his back. Gazing up, he searched for his foe, but... they weren't there. All he saw, was his room. Had he been anyone else, he wouldn't have figured it out by now. But he was Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the greatest mind on the world. He knew what was going on here. His opponent was invisible.

He got to his feet quickly, and jerked his eyes around. Invisible foes, he didn't know how to deal with someone like this! Maria needed to wake up soon, or else... he needed to come up with a plan, and quick. His laser cannon remained trained on the air, as he made his way slowly toward a console. His face moved to and fro, as he searched for his opponent. Just a little closer...

A kick was delivered to his chest. This kick was so strong, he was thrown back. He slammed into a command console, and instantly began regretting ever facing a foe. Struggling to his feet, he pressed a few buttons on the command console. He did it so fast, his invisible foe had no time to strike him again. The machine buzzed a bit, before the lights started to flicker. Ivo gave a grin, while he increased his grip on his laser cannon.

"You think you have me!" he yelled, "Idiot! No one stops the great Ivo Robotnik! I designed this room with a special machine stopping substance! You'll show up sooner or later!"

And he did.

The first he saw of his invisible foe was his burning ember eyes. They streaked about the room with ninja like movements. Next, was his body. Whoever this person was, he was wearing a weird futuristic suit. It looked like metal plating, but it was in reality a light bending material, one that allowed the wearing to turn invisible. Not only that, the man before him wore a helmet. The helmet was skin-tight, and also had the light bending material. The eyes were giant goggles though, goggles that held those eyes.

"I see you now!" Ivo yelled.

He pointed forward his laser cannon, and fired. A red beam flew from Eggman's gun, and zapped toward the invisible foe. Yet, somehow, despite all the laws of physics, it dodged it. Eggman was dumbfounded. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, while his laser cannon laid in the hands of his foe. The invisible man gazed down at Ivo, and jabbed forth a finger.

"Where is Maria!?" he suddenly yelled.

The soldier's foot met Ivo's chest. He wasn't in the mood for talking.

"If I tell you, will you let me go?" Ivo inquired.

"Ivo Robotnik, you are wanted for a plethora of felonies. There is no way I will let you go."

"And... what if I don't tell you where Maria is?"

"I kill you..."

"Well, you drive a hard bargain Mr. Invisible!"

The man's foot pressed harder.

"Where is, Maria!"

She tackled him.

The two foes tumbled on the ground, and the female agent gained the upper hand. Raising her fist, she slammed it down on the ember eyes the man owned. The strike would have easily dazed anyone, but her foe wasn't any opponent. He bucked up his feet, and kicked her off of him, sending her a few feet away. She landed on her feet though, a testament to her superior training.

"It's about time you showed up!" Ivo coughed.

"You were going to sell me out Ivo!" she yelled, fist tightening.

"No I wasn't! You just heard things differently."

The invisible soldier got to his feet. Eyes glaring at Maria, she glared back.

"Maria Robotnik," he said, "You are wanted by G.U.N.!"

"You idiot!" she yelled, "I work for G.U.N.!"

"You have been seen here aiding a known and wanted terrorist!"

"Well guess what!" she barked back, "I don't care! I remember everything now! I remember what G.U.N. did! I, I! I remember it all! The Ark, Shadow, Grandpa! The genocide you committed on that base!" she raised a small manilla folder, "It was all in here! And I remember!"

The special agent grew silent. And yet, her eyes never wavered.

"I suppose this is my resignation letter..." she murmured.

Suddenly, her foe went invisible. The ember lit eyes faded away, and Maria was now left with Ivo. She knew her foe was still here, she just needed to figure out where.

Her blue eyes turned red.

She withdrew her pistol, and started to comb the room with her analytical eyes. Left and right they moved, all in the search of their foe.

The air in the room, she felt it bend toward her. With a duck down, she dodged a quick punch. Quickly, she countered with an uppercut. Her foe was thrown back, where his invisible suit started to malfunction. Maria's gun fired toward him, but he dodged it quickly. Seconds later, he went invisible.

"Why are you here?" she questioned, "Did G.U.N. not trust me?"

"It seems they were right in not trusting you." the man replied, "You are insane Maria! You never went to Ark, ever! Dr. Robotnik has clearly played with your mind!"

"No! He showed me the truth! He told me those pills were actually drugs!"

A kick was thrown by Maria. Somehow, in some way, she struck her foe. He was sent dazed by the attack, and his suit once again went on the fritz. Maria used this time to finish things. She struck with a punch, which was followed by another punch, and another punch. The last hit sent her foe tumbling into the ground, where his head met the end of a command console. If he was planning on getting back up, that was instantly dashed by Maria. She placed her gun to his head, and forced him to the ground.

Silence...

"Oh my!" Ivo's voice called, "Look at the mighty G.U.N. soldier now!"

Though he was laughing, Maria stayed stoic.

"There are three of you..." she said, "Three Special Agents... where are the other two?"

He remained silent.

"Tell me!" she barked, pulling down on the pistol's hammer.

"I was sent alone!" he yelled back.

"By who!?"

"Captain Coffee!"

"That damn rabbit..." she murmured, "He never trusted me..."

"And he had good reason to!" the soldier yelled, "Look at you! Betraying your people!"

"You are no 'people' of mine!"

She wanted to pull the trigger. She wanted to end his life. She wanted to just be free of it all! Killing him, would be the first in a long severing mission. Her and G.U.N... they were no more...

But she couldn't do it... why? Maria had killed many a men before, all in the name of duty. But this... this felt so wrong... If she killed him, would she be like her original self? Then again, she didn't even know her original self. That flashback showed nothing over her original self, just... bits and pieces. Was she really nice? Was this what she really was like?

"Kill him, Maria..." Ivo's voice said, "We have no need for him..."

We? We? That's right... he was all she had life. There was no more G.U.N. and her... it was just... Robotnik.

"I told you I don't trust them..." Shadow's voice called.

In her peripheral vision, she could see his ghastly body. He was sitting on a command console, gazing off into nothing.

"I don't like G.U.N., Maria," he said, "but... I don't wanna see you kill him, Maria..." he looked to her, "That's not the Maria I know..."

"I'm sorry, Shadow," she answered, "I'm not the Maria you knew..."

She pulled the trigger.