The next day, Pluto was strolling around the ARK by herself. She had visited Maria in her quarters, and they had fun watching some old movies from earth. Maria told Pluto that she had never been to Earth before, and she would like to know what life down there would be like.

This morning, the professor had made some tests on her body, the rest of the day, she was free to explore. And there was much to see on the ARK.

Professor Gerald just told her to stay clear of the lower levels. It would be too dangerous there, as there were hazardous security corridors, constructed in case some intruders would infiltrate the ARK.

Most of the scientists and their families already knew Pluto and waved at her every time she passed them. The soldiers stayed as grumpy as ever, but Pluto didn't plan on becoming their friend anyway.

When she was walking down another corridor, she suddenly heard a noise from a nearby storage room. It sounded like several boxes had been tipped over.

When she entered the room, she could see some little boy struggling to get out of the collapsed boxes. Lucky for him, they were all empty.

Pluto smiled. "Well, you must be Chester. I heard a lot about you from Maria. I'm Pluto!"

The boy threw the last box away and stood up. He stared into Pluto's face. "I know about you," he said with a grim look on his face. "My father told me all about the mad professor's plans. You're one of the freaks he created in his lab, right?"

Pluto gulped. "Um, that's not quite true..."

"I heard you have to eat little animals to survive," the boy continued. "How many squirrels have you killed today?"

"I think your father has a slight misinterpretation of the professor's work," Pluto said while frowning. "I assure you, I am no freak, and so aren't my brothers."

"My father is always right," the boy shouted. "He is the commander of the GUN forces, you know? So don't try to fool me."

Pluto looked firmly into the boy's eyes. 'Strange,' she thought. 'They are differently colored.'

"Listen, Chester... I'm no freak, got it? I'm just a nice hedgehog that wants to go to lunch in peace, so don't bother me with the phantasms of your father, okay?"

"Lunch?" Chester mumbled. "Some juicy rabbits, I guess..."

Suddenly, Maria turned around the corner. "Pluto, have you seen...? Oh, there he is! Chester, you ran away again. You know you have to do your homework."

"Tell this freak to get away from me," Chester yelled. "She wanted to eat me."

Maria sighed. "Chester, please. Go to your room. We'll talk about this later."

The boy gave Pluto one final glance and left.

"I'm sorry about this," Maria said. "His father doesn't like what my grandfather is working on and thinks of him as a madman. I, on the other hand, think my grandfather is brilliant."

"Professor Gerald is brilliant," Pluto agreed. "Only most of the people don't seem to understand him. Why doesn't Chester's father imprison the professor if he thinks he is such a threat for the national safety?"

"Commander Charles Barrel may be the leader of the GUN troops, but he gets his orders from the president of the United Nations. So he has no choice but to listen to the president's orders. But I bet all those troops are here just to report to Barrel as soon as something happens..."

She shook her head. "But never mind. I wanted to show you something. Come with me!" And she took Pluto by the hand and led her towards the ARK's observatory.

----

Maria shoved Pluto towards the telescope. "Here, watch!"

Pluto peered through the telescope and saw outer space. "I can't see anything..."

"Wait, let me adjust the telescope's angle..." The view panned a little to the left... and now Pluto could see it. A giant comet, made from some black rock, surrounded by a crimson comet's tail.

"A comet..." Pluto murmured while moving away from the telescope.

Maria nodded. "Yes, the Black Comet! He's approaching Earth every 50 years, and tonight, he will pass the Earth at a very close distance. Amazing, isn't it?"

Pluto shook her head. Something about that comet... gave her the creeps. But she couldn't explain what it meant.

Maria looked at her with a worried face. "Is something wrong?"

Pluto smiled. "No, everything's fine. Come, the professor gave me some money... I'll buy you a sundae at the cafeteria."

Maria beamed. "Great!"

----

Professor Gerald was sitting at the window of his research facility and sighed. He was able to bring life to Pluto, but regarding Shadow... he seemed to have reached a dead end. He knew what was necessary to enrich Shadow's body with the intended power, but... it didn't quite work. What he needed, was some kind of catalyst...

"Do not worry, human! Everything will work out just fine."

Gerald was startled. In alarm, he looked around the room. Except from Shadow's floating form inside the tank, the room was empty. "Who's there?" Gerald shouted.

Then, a floating silhouette appeared inside the laboratory. It was translucent and resembled nothing the professor had seen before. It was vaguely humanoid and had long, horn-like protrusions on his head. It's skin was a deep black, and its three eyes stared at him with a gleaming red. It wore some kind of robe, decorated with various unknown symbols and chains.

"Do not be afraid, human," the apparition exclaimed. "I mean you no harm. I am Black Doom, leader of the extraterrestrial race known as the Black Arms. Our home is the Black Comet." He gestured towards the window, where Gerald could see the faint red sparkling of the comet's tail.

He gulped nervously. It didn't happen every day that you were being visited by an alien. "My name is... Professor Gerald Robotnik. Why... why are you here?"

"I could listen to your thoughts of distress, Professor," the alien continued in its eery voice. "And I think I can offer you a bargain that both of us are going to profit from."

"What kind of... bargain?"

Black Doom turned towards the container where the form of Shadow was sleeping. "I see you're planning to create something that you call the... Ultimate Life Form. But you have some problems of adjusting his DNA for your benefits."

Professor Gerald considered denying it, but he suspected that creature would be able to read his thoughts like an open book. "That's... correct," he said. "I tried everything to acclimatize his body fluids to my serum, but to no avail. It's just no use..." He sighed.

"Fret not, Gerald," Black Doom said. "For I offer you something that can help you reach your goal." He held up a small vial containing a crimson liquid. "A sample... of my blood!"

"Your... blood?"

"Indeed," the alien nodded. "Our race has most intriguing abilities, and I'm the superior ruler of them all. You'll see that if my blood gets injected into this creature, it will truly become the Ultimate Life Form of your planet."

Gerald was amazed. If that was true, then he would be able to finish his research. His dream would come true. "And what is my part of the bargain?" he asked.

Black Doom lowered his face. "You need to bring me... the seven Chaos Emeralds!"

----

Chester angrily walked down the corridors. How could Maria, the only person that was important to him next to his family, take sides with that freak? His father was right: The professor was a mad scientist.

He hit the metal walls in anger and walked past a door, when he heard a strange voice. It seemed to come out of the professor's laboratory. Quickly, he went to the door and looked through the glass panel.

Inside that room... he could see the three monsters that would haunt his dreams from now on: The mad scientist himself, a horrible black monster that was talking to the professor, and inside that tube...

...a hedgehog as black as the night. Floating inside that green liquid, bearing those crimson stripes, it was the most horrifying sight the little boy ever saw in his entire life.

He let out a small yell of terror and fled down the corridor.

----

Slowly, the black hedgehog opened his eyes. All members of his little 'family' hold their breath.

Shadow slowly stepped out of the tank. "Who...? Where...? What...?

Pluto grinned. "Yeah, those were my own words as well. Don't worry. You'll feel fine in a few moments."

Shadow looked around. "This is... the ARK, right?"

Pluto was amazed. "How do you know that?"

"It'sss being programmed into hisss brain," Bio hissed in a quiet voice.

Shadow looked at the professor. "And you are... my creator?"

Gerald nodded. "That's right, Shadow! Welcome to this world, if I may say so. And these are your siblings." He gestured towards Pluto and Bio, who waved.

Shadow walked up to them and smirked. "Dark fur seems to run in the family," he chuckled while looking at Pluto. Then he turned around to Bio. "But you seem to be a little different from us, huh?"

"Doesssn't matter," Bio responded. "Important is not how I look, but how I feel."

Shadow nodded and looked at Maria. "And who are you? Another sister of mine?"

She giggled. "No, no! I'm just Professor Geralds granddaughter. I'm Maria... nice to meet you, Shadow."

Shadow took her hand and smiled. "Maria..."

Maria giggled again and blushed when he looked intently at her.

And from that moment on, they were good friends.

----

The professor was sitting in his laboratory, at his desk. In front of him were lying several brochures and a big stone tablet. Gerald's body was leaning forward, and his eyes were closed.

He snored.

Shadow came walking into the lab. "Professor, I just wanted to... Professor?"

Gerald jolted awake and nearly fell from his chair. "Wha...? What? Oh, Shadow..." He sighed. "It's you! How are you faring?"

The black hedgehog shrugged. "Pretty good. Pluto and Maria showed me some old earth movies they thought I would like. They were okay. 'Titanic' was a little boring, though."

He looked at the professor's work. "What are you doing?"

The professor coughed. "Well, I'm just doing some research... about a special kind of jewel."

Shadow looked interested at the old stone tablet. On it, he could see some old carvings... some sort of shrine, and on its top, a big shining jewel. Next to the shrine, some undefinable blue shape was pictured. "What kind of jewel?"

"Well, they're called the 'Chaos Emeralds'. According to these old stone tablets, they were part of an ancient culture of echidnas that once lived on earth. They called the Emeralds the 'controllers'. What they were supposed to control, I have no idea... But one thing is sure: They're called emeralds, but actually, they have different colors. I believe there are seven of them, and everyone of them has its own color."

Shadow looked at the tablet. Over the shrine were seven colored spots. Those were the emeralds? "And what about that big, green one?"

Gerald shrugged. "No idea! I can just imagine that it was used to contain some ancient god of destruction... the writing wasn't very accurate, and I had problems translating their old language."

Suddenly, the door opened again and Pluto came in. "What are you two up to?" she asked. Shadow grinned. "The professor just showed me some of his research."

Pluto looked at Gerald with worried eyes. "You seem tired, professor! I think you should go to bed soon. Staying up that long isn't good for your health."

Gerald chuckled. "I guess you're right, dear... Well, I think I should go. Maria will be worried as well." He stood up, stretched his back and switched out his lamp. "Good night, you two. Don't stay up for too long, right?"

He left.

Pluto looked around. "Where's Bio?"

Shadow shrugged. "Beats me."

Pluto seemed upset. "He knows he can't survive for long if he doesn't connect himself regularly to his life support system. Now where did he go? Shadow, help me find him!"

Shadow sighed. "And I was looking forward for a good night's rest..."

----

They slowly walked down the sloping corridor. "We looked everywhere," Shadow growled. "Where is that cursed lizard?"

"Hey, don't call him that," Pluto scolded. "He can't help how he looks. That's just the way he was created, okay? Well, if he isn't in the rooms up here, that means..." She gasped in alarm. "He must be somewhere in the lower levels."

Shadow cursed. "And the professor told us exactly NOT to go down there."

"We have to find him before the security robots get him," Pluto said. "Come on, hurry up!"

"Oh, when I'm getting my hands on that lizard..."

----

Coughing, Bio closed the massive door. "There," he mumbled. "That should be ssssufficient. Thossse humanssss... they'll think twice about laughing at me..."

Suddenly, two hedgehogs came running down the corridor. "Bio, what are you doing there?" Shadow shouted angrily. "You know that's a restricted area."

Bio fidgeted nervously. "I... I jussst..."

Pluto frowned. "Hey, Shadow! It's enough. We have to get out of here. Those soldiers are just waiting for an excuse to blame us for anything that happens. Come on, you two, let's get out of here!"

But before they could leave, a hatch in the ceiling opened, and a beetle - a GUN security robot - came floating down into the corridor.

"This area is off-limits," it said in a mechanical voice. "Surrender yourselves!"

Pluto sighed. "It's no good, we have to... BIO!!"

The prototype snarled angrily at the machine. "You're not getting me that easssily, humans," he hissed and spat a dark ball of gravity at the beetle. It was instantly destroyed.

But before that, it managed to send an alarm signal to one of its brethren. Suddenly, red lights were flashing all over the corridor, and another artificial voice was shouting: "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"

"Now look what you've done," Shadow grumbled and gave Bio a light smack on his head.

"Quick, we have to get away before they find us," Pluto shouted. In a hurry, the three humanoid animals ran back the way they came.

The two hedgehogs were quickly running ahead, but Bio had his problems keeping up with them. "Sssstop," he hissed. "Not ssso fassst!"

Shadow turned around. "Hurry up! You want the soldiers to get us?"

Suddenly, voices could be heard in front of them. "They must be in here. Quick, before they escape!"

Pluto looked around and pointed to a pile of crates. "Over there, we hide behind them!"

Shadow and Pluto dove for cover and Bio tried to follow them. But, he tripped over his own tail and fell down to the floor.

While he got up, the soldiers appeared in front of him. "There he is! Get him!"

Their leader raised a rifle and pulled the trigger. A small dart hit Bio's side and made him hiss in pain. Then, his eyes slowly closed and he fell down to the ground.

Pluto and Shadow didn't dare doing anything, as the GUN soldiers picked up the unmoving body of their brother. "Inform HQ," one of the soldiers said. "It looks like in the end, one of the professor's experiments got out of control after all."

And while the soldiers carried the lizard's body away, Pluto hugged Shadow and let out a small sob. "What are they going to do with him?"

"I don't know," Shadow murmured. "I just don't know..."

----

"I'll ask you one last time: Where are the other experiments?" The tall man wearing the grey uniform was practically shouting into Bio's face.

The lizard struggled a little within his bonds. "I don't know... what you're talking about," he growled.

The commander snarled angrily. "Professor Gerald created three creatures like yourself! Two of them are still aboard the ARK! So where are they?"

"There are no creaturesss asss me on the ARK..." Bio lisped. And it was the truth: Shadow and Pluto may be his siblings, in a way of thinking, but they clearly weren't like him.

Commander Barrel cursed loudly. "Get that creature out of my sight," he snapped. The soldiers guarding the lizard saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Barrel shook his head. Doesn't matter! The professor clearly stepped over his bounds. This had to stop. Experimenting with those abominable life forms... it was a crime against life in the commander's eyes. He had to be stopped at all costs. The president HAD to accept that.

He activated his communicator. "Attention all units! Order 78 is now active. Clear up the ARK... shut down the research facilities... find the experiments and take them down, dead or alive! I don't care what it takes, but stop that madman!"

He made a fist. After his son saw that mad scientist making a pact with that gruesome alien, he was sure that some day, he would find a chance to make Gerald pay for his crimes.

And this day... was today!

----

Gerald sighed. "I don't blame the two of you," he said sadly. "Bio had always suffered, not only because of the soldiers. Most of my colleagues feared him as well. It just would have been a matter of time, before..."

"Without his life support system, he won't survive," Maria sobbed. "Why did this have to happen?"

Shadow looked down. "I really wish I had been able to save him..."

Before anyone could say anymore, something shook around the walls of the ARK. "W-what's happening, grandfather?" Maria asked in fright.

The loudspeakers of the colony came active: "All residents of the space colony ARK, listen up! This is the Guardian force of the United Nations (G.U.N.)! This space colony will be shut down, together with all of its research facilities. Surrender yourself to the members of our clearance teams, and no one will be harmed. Anyone that knows about the whereabouts of Professor Gerald Robotnik, or one of his research experiments, has to report it immediately!"

"Oh no!" Maria cried. "Why are the soldiers doing this to us?"

The professor grumbled. "I knew it would come to this... I always knew... they always feared my work."

He looked at Pluto and Shadow. "You two, bring Maria out of here! Guard them with your lives and try to escape as well! The escape pods are in Sector 3! I will try to save my research records and the Chaos Emeralds I managed to collect so far. Do not come back for me! Understand?"

Pluto wanted to object, but Shadow shoved her away and nodded. "Understood, Professor! I swear it, I will protect Maria." He looked at his two female friends. "Come, we have to go!"

"Grandfather!" Maria shouted, while Pluto and Shadow were pulling her with them. Gerald took one sad look after them, then hurried into his laboratory.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Luckily all of my records are intact." He went to pick everything up, when suddenly, GUN soldiers came storming into the room. "There he is! Professor Gerald Robotnik, you are under arrest on orders of Commander Barrel from GUN. Please make no attempts to resist and everything will work out fine." The captain motioned to the notes, the machines and everything else. "Burn it! Burn everything down!" He walked over to a small chest and pulled out three Chaos Emeralds: A red one, a purple one and a light blue one.

After he left the room, soldiers carrying flamethrowers came in. While the professor was being dragged out of his lab, he had to watch how they were burning everything down. "No!! Not my research results! My laboratory! My life's work!! NO!!"

----

The two hedgehogs and Maria hurried through the corridors of the ARK.

"There," Pluto shouted. "Only past that hall, and we have reached the escape pods. They will get us down to Earth safely."

Shadow nodded, while Maria only sobbed. "Grandfather..."

But when they opened the door, something happened that should change everything... forever...

The only thing Pluto saw was a giant shape and a voice that shouted: "There they are! Fire!"

Then a gunshot.

Shadow really didn't understand what happened. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The gun's bullet flew over his shoulder, past his head and hit the object that was directly behind him...

Maria's chest.

Pluto shouted: "NOOOOO..."

Again, like in slow motion, the small blonde girl fell down on the ground. She looked up one last time at Shadow's face and whispered: "Shadow... I beg of you... please... do it for me! For all these people on that planet..." She whispered something else that Pluto couldn't understand, then: "Sayonara, Shadow... the Hedgehog." Then her head fell back.

She was dead.

While Pluto looked at Maria's lifeless body, frozen with horror, a primal rage awoke inside Shadow's body. A flame of fury lit up in his eyes as he turned around to the big combat vessel that was hovering in front of them. It was round, like a flying saucer, had some guns under it's frontal cockpit and various other weapons all around its body.

"This is Heavy Dog, headquarters," the voice of the pilot exclaimed. "I found the two hedgehogs! Will now try to capture them!"

"You... you pathetic humans," Shadow growled. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

And deep within his mind, an evil voice seemed to whisper: 'Yeeees, Shadow... submit to your fury... release your rage and direct it against those humans that made life so miserable for you...'

Pluto shouted: "Shadow, no!" But it was too late. The black hedgehog hurled its spiky body against the hovering craft while dodging its gunshots. He smacked against a missile launcher, it fell to the ground, he picked it up and fired a missile... right into the cockpit window of the Heavy Dog.

"GYYAAAAARRRRRGGHH!" the pilot screamed, as his vessel exploded in a shower of sparks.

Shadow fell down on the ground, unconscious.

Pluto ran to his side and checked his pulse. He was alive.

She looked back at Maria's body and tears flowed down her face. "Oh, Professor... is it really true? Can the human society accept us if everyone is reacting like this? I don't think so!" She collapsed in tears and only broke out of her misery when she heard other soldier's voices approaching. Quickly, she picked up Shadow's body and carried him over to one of the escape pods. They were only big enough to carry one body at once, so she stowed him inside, shut the door and let it fly to earth. Through the window, she could see the pipe-shaped capsule flying towards the blue planet.

She looked one last time at the dead body of the girl and sniffed. Only then she entered a capsule herself, shut it from the inside and let it fly.

The professor used to say: There's always hope when you have your friends and family.

But what if they took them away from you?

Hope turns into despair...