Chapter 2

Outside in the forest once more, the sun was rising, sending a gradient of blues and pinks up the horizon. Shadow realized that it should have risen already, but chalked it up to the season and him not spending a lot of time staring at the sky. He made a feral noise and smashed a fist against one of the pillars holding up the Egg Carrier; he was without transport. How on Earth would he get to the ARK now that the doctor refused to be involved?

Shadow's irises trailed over to a storage compartment along the airship's side. He could always steal one of Robotnik's ships... He shook his head; that would be utterly idiotic! With Eggman in his current state, who knew if Shadow would awaken some slumbering symptom of dementia that would lead to destruction? No... he'd have to try something else.

Two options remained: convince Tails to lend him a spacecraft, or attempt to "borrow" one from GUN.

Despite himself, Shadow smirked at the very idea. He adjusted the rucksack over his quills and—breathing in the fresh morning air—headed back towards the city. If he was lucky, he'd catch the first train out to Mystic Ruins.

The dewy gold rays of sunlight washed through the train windows, flashing back and forth as the vehicle moved past rocky spires. Shadow gripped the hanging loop, swaying with each rattle of the train. He blinked sleepily, hoping that Tails was home... and awake. His eyes drooped as the sun warmed his dark fur and a vision flashed in his mind. It was the negative-Maria again; she was huddled under a desk, running her fingers over the page of a thick book. As if sensing a presence, she looked up, her orange eyes glinting strangely in the light.

"Shadow," she breathed, relief evident in her voice. She gazed back down at the page, lifting it between two fingers. "'Behold, he cometh with the clouds'..." She looked up again, "Are you coming, Shadow? I need you."

The Ultimate Life-form opened his eyes as the train pulled into the Mystic Ruins depot. His fur was standing on end and there was a cold tingle in his spine. The other passengers were pushing past him, eventually wresting him from his hold on the rope loop and pulling him into the exodus. He clutched his rucksack to his chest and followed gingerly. The platform was a bustle of activity. There was an excavation nearby, by the looks of it. And businessmen didn't typically head out for the dusty wilderness at seven in the morning on a weekday.

Shadow brought a hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun as he stared over the horizon. In the distance, he saw a tiny house atop a cliff with the longest set of stairs he'd ever seen running down. Shrugging his bag into place, he descended the rickety stairs of the station.

When he reached the workshop, there appeared to have been an accident by the front door, leaving it out of commission. Shadow smirked at the sight, his mind filled with possibilities of what could have caused the door's downfall. He knocked on the metal garage instead and stepped back to wait. After a few minutes and the sound of something breaking, the door slid upward to reveal a bed-headed Tails, blinking blearily and still holding a pencil in one hand.

"Fall asleep at your desk again?" Shadow asked, a teasing note in his voice. The kitsune glared, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Shut up... Why are you here so early? Is the sun even up?"

Shadow absently gestured at the golden orb in the sky, already beating down on Mystic Ruins. Tails grimaced at it and then at Shadow, baring his teeth like a little wild animal. Shadow resisted the urge to muss the fox's hair. Tails beckoned him to enter. The pair made their way into the (messy) living space, where Shadow noted the half-empty mug next to unfinished blue prints at the counter. Tails clambered up onto the stool and resumed scratching out the basic sketch.

"So," he muttered drowsily, "what can I do for you? It's kinda weird to have you show up here out of the blue. Did I forget one of Amy's parties or somethin'?" Shadow wandered into the kitchen, drinking in the setting before leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms. He gazed at Tails levelly.

"I need a ship. One fit for space travel."

Tails looked up from the drawing, his eyes narrow, "Why?"

Shadow sighed. He knew this would happen. Tails was a nice kid, nice and quiet... but he just asked too many questions at the wrong time. Arguably, at the exact right time in the eyes of a parent figure, but Shadow didn't need concern. He needed a business transaction.

"Reasons," the terse reply spilled out before he could stop himself. Tails pursed his lips and went back to drawing, nodding vaguely. Shadow waited patiently—this was all part of how Tails worked. He was easily startled, like a deer. You had to approach big things slowly.

"I'd like to know," the kitsune said languidly, "why I should just... hand over one of my ships. Just like that, with no excuses or reasons or anything. You could be taking it to blow up Sonic for all I know."

"Trust me, if I was after Faker, I'd have quashed him a long time ago."

"Shadow, just tell me what you need it for and I'll see what I can do," Tails hissed exasperatedly. He frowned up at the older anthro, blue eyes piercing into red ones. Shadow looked away, his face drawn taut in defense.

"It's kind of a long story... and I feel like if I explain everything, you'll get Faker and everyone else in on it too."

"Okay... so just give me the gist of it."

"Well," Shadow ran a hand through his quills, "it has to do with my past. Um... someone told me that there was more information to be gathered at a certain place. Old files and things like that. I just need a way to get there." Shadow finished with a slight pleading look, hoping Tails would give him the benefit of the doubt and offer up one of his side projects. However, the little fox simply stared back at him with a too-wise gaze. Eventually Tails slipped off of the stool and set the pencil down, walking towards one of his tool boxes which perched on a nearby couch. He opened it and began rooting around.

"I'm really sorry, Shadow... but I don't think I can help you with a ship. The only one I have is in bad need of repairs and they won't be done for quite some time. Something tells me," he glanced pointedly at the black hedgehog, "you need to get where you're going fast." Shadow huffed irritably and slouched away from the counter, moving to leave.

"I shouldn't have bothered you."

"Wait!" Tails ran up and grabbed his shoulder. Shadow raised a haughty eyebrow. Tails opened his other hand, "I can't help with a ship, but you should take these. They might help, where you're going." Shadow looked down at the two objects: one a chrome bracelet with several small buttons along one side, the other a rectangular piece of plastic with several buttons and a small screen.

"This is a communication bracelet," Tails explained, holding up the chrome ring. "It connects to my radio from anywhere in this galaxy. Go further than that and it gets a little fuzzy, though." His ears drooped slightly, only to perk up again when he pointed to the rectangular object, "This is an EVP recorder."

"EV...P?"

"It stands for 'electronic voice phenomena'. Most people use them for contacting the spirit realm, but it might be handy for other things too. You can record things with it." Tails dropped the objects into Shadow's palm. The hedgehog nodded.

"Thanks... I guess."

"It's mostly in case of emergency," Tails twiddled his fingers together. "If you need help, just give us a call on the bracelet and we'll find a way to help. Good luck finding a ship." He trailed off and stared at the floor in awkward silence. Shadow felt a strange surge of emotion at the back of his mind. He smiled faintly and rubbed the kitsune's fuzzy head in a brotherly manner. Tails glanced up, a questioning look in his eyes.

"What...?"

"Seeya, kid," Shadow turned and was already skating back to the train station before Tails could ask why he was being so... different.

After a third excruciating train ride back to Station Square, Shadow had worked up a plan. If he Chaos Controlled from one of the outer walls of the GUN facility, then maybe he'd get in without being seen. The last thing he wanted to do was show up after he requested a month of time off. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought of the Commander's... "questions".

As he made his way down the main road through the city, he passed the massive city library. Much like the strange inkling to give Tails a noogie, Shadow felt as if he was being pulled towards the large mahogany doors. He decided that it was still fairly early in the day, so what would the harm be in searching for any tidbits of information about the ARK? He shrugged to himself and walked in.

He was immediately hit by the musty-sweet smell of a public building as well as a sticky silence which seemed to draw noise out of the air like glycerin drew moisture. There was a faint tapping of computer keys near the online research area, but Shadow passed that section over. Instead, he ambled quietly to the retrospective texts section and began to paw over the shelves of moth-eaten magazines and faded newspapers. A pretty gray rabbit wearing a pencil skirt and large glasses walked up to him and leaned close to whisper.

"Can I help you find anything?"

Shadow glanced at her before resuming his search, "I'm looking for information about the ARK." She made a strange face at him, confused.

"The 'ARK', you say? Hmm, can't say I've ever heard of it."

Shadow stopped perusing the old material and turned, "The space colony? It was a massive project that happened just over fifty years ago..." When the librarian gave no indication that she recognized what he was talking about, he wilted. "You... you really haven't heard of it?"

"I'm afraid not. If you're willing to wait, however, I can search our archives via the computer."

Shadow gave a curt nod, "That would be great." With a charming smile, the rabbit walked away to her desk, where she hammered on the keyboard and flicked her eyes over the screen. Shadow idly poked through the rest of the magazines, half watching the librarian. After a few minutes, she raised her eyebrows and disappeared into a dark room. She emerged moments later and came back to him.

"If you'd follow me this way, I've prepared a table for you. I'm sorry to say we only have a few documents on the subject." She gestured behind her and Shadow set down the magazine he was thumbing through. She led him to the room which was filled with oddly-shaped filing cabinets and an old-fashioned card system. There was a small white table in the middle of the space, where three plastic folders were arranged with a pair of clear gloves. Shadow sat in the chair beside it hesitantly. The librarian stood by the door and folded her hands in front of her.

"It's strange," she said. "I've never seen one of the files so empty before. Those were the only things inside and they're very delicate... probably gotten from a senior citizen's home. Please wear the gloves when you handle them." Shadow nodded and pulled on the gloves before opening the first folder.

It was a newspaper clipping, dated February twentieth from almost sixty years previous. Shadow recognized the last Commander of GUN, shaking hands with a scientist. The headline read "GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS: OPERATION NOAH'S ARK TO RECEIVE FUNDING". Shadow frowned.

"Noah's Ark"? I've never heard anything like that... He scanned the article. Most of it was talk of the strained relationship between the military and the scientific community, but towards the end he caught a strange phrase:"Scientists refused to comment on the current state of the Noah project, but agreed to release a statement later in the year." Shadow turned it over in his palm, eyeing the back for any further information. None was there. He replaced the article in its folder and picked up the next.

Inside was a graying tabloid with an image the black hedgehog recognized instantly. It was Gerald Robotnik, his creator and father figure. Shadow hesitated to look further, lest he see the inevitable granddaughter of said creator. However, the desire for information won out in the end and he looked.

Maria stood at her grandfather's elbow, dressed in blue and appearing very tired. Gerald stood protectively in front of her, subtle enough so the photographers wouldn't catch on. Shadow stroked the picture with his double-gloved finger tenderly. Maria looked younger than she had been during the time he had known her. Her hair was longer and her dress looser. Perhaps it was an earlier version?

He shook his head; now was not the time for reminiscence; he needed to clear his head to accept possibilities that would change what he knew. Garnet eyes slipped lower over the page, drinking in the words.

"Gerald Robotnik to Join with project Noah! Granddaughter Diagnosed with NIDS responsible?" the headline asked. The article was dated a year after the newspaper clipping.

So, Shadow assessed, Gerald only signed on after Maria got sick... He had been told a vague back-story regarding the older Robotnik's assimilation into the happenings aboard the ARK, but had been left to assume many of the finer details. Gerald's priority had always been—very obviously—Maria's cure, but Shadow had never known that the scientist joined solely for that purpose.

The document went on to describe the government's repeated attempts to acquire Gerald and their many failures. It also spoke of an epidemic outbreak of NIDS in a small community on the east coast, where Maria had been living with her parents until she contracted the deadly disease. The rest was made up of well-wishes for the scientists, who seemed to have remained tight-lipped regarding the mysterious project, "Noah". Shadow slid the paper into its folder and moved on to the third and final piece.

It wasn't much. Little more than a dusty page scanned from a magazine, the bold black letters simply stated: "Neuro-Immune Deficiency Disorder: The Root of Insanity". Shadow scoffed openly. Insanity? Really? He stuffed it back into its folder with less care than the other articles; this one clearly was uniformed propaganda. If there was one thing Shadow remembered clearly about his time on the ARK was Maria. She wasn't insane in the least. Rather, she was kind, level-headed and occasionally self-righteous, albeit in an endearing way. To read something making such a vile mockery of the disease she suffered from would only make Shadow angry. He stacked the documents at the edge of the table and pulled off the plastic gloves, tossing them aside. The metal chair squealed against the tile floor as he got up.

"Did you find everything you needed?" The librarian asked, smiling tentatively.

Shadow nodded, "Yes, you were very helpful."

The librarian smiled more confidently and opened the door for him as he stalked by, "Please come again." Shadow stopped mid-step. The moment her words had left her mouth, he'd seen negative-Maria again... Or, at least he thought so. A black-haired girl wearing a yellow dress had ghosted between two rows of shelves and left through the main entrance. Shadow glanced back at the rabbit, sputtering a quick thank-you before turning and jogging towards the doors.

He saw a flash of yellow as he nearly tripped down the stone steps. The girl was swallowed up by the mid-morning crowds of the city. Shadow pelted after her, pushing aside some startled business folk. An angry man shouted after him and a woman squeaked as her bag was snagged on Shadow's, torn and thrown to the ground. Shadow wove through the people—human and anthros alike—to stop at a crosswalk. On the other side, clear as the morning sun that illuminated her, she stood. Shadow froze when she turned, almost as if in slow-motion. Her copper eyes drew him in and she smiled that same haunting smile, that terrifying smile that she gave him on the subway.

A truck drove by, hiding her from view. By the time it was gone, she had disappeared. Aggravated, Shadow cursed under his breath and looked up into blue oblivion. If one didn't know, they'd probably mistake the pale fingernail wisp of the ARK for the moon.

Shadow knew better.

He also knew he had to get there fast, because things were now out of his control.

An hour later, Shadow leaned against the outer cement wall of the GUN compound. Just over the other side was the vehicle hangar, home to armored jeeps, fighter planes, and the occasional spacecraft. Shadow was taking a gamble that one such craft was being stored now. It was risky, he knew.

But he wasn't called the Ultimate Life-form for anything.

Shadow took a deep breath and reached into the quills on his back. His hand emerged seconds later, fingers wrapped tight around a green Chaos Emerald. It had been so long since he used Chaos Control; he wondered if he might be rusty. Another look at the brilliant-cut gem and he chuckled to himself.

As if.

With another deep inhale, Shadow pictured the exact corner of the hangar he wanted, then raised the Emerald into the air.

"Chaos Control, now!"

In a flash of green light, he was home free. No cameras could detect him on the inside of the facility. The black hedgehog tucked the Chaos Emerald back in its hiding place, then straightened up and examined the hangar contents. Since the last defeat of Eggman, GUN had been manufacturing over-sized, robotic battlesuits in preparation for his next attack. However, two years passed and the maniacal doctor had remained off the radar.

Shadow chose this particular hangar for that exact reason: it was the one that had shut down first. Without guards or anyone to walk in on him choosing the exact ship he wanted, he had all the time in the day to compare features.

He meandered through the battlesuit section, then into the aircraft ward. Then there was the ground vehicles, all dark green with the eight-starred logo of GUN painted on the sides. Shadow slipped passed these, into the furthest room of the warehouse. There, he found what he was looking for. All manner of spacecraft, large and small docked in their respective areas. The dark agent stepped up to a small, personal-sized ship, ready to try it out, but something flashed in the corner of his eye.

He turned to see a metal, vertical security door set in the wall. There was a flashing red light above it—the light which had caught his attention. Next to the door was a small security panel with a keypad, probably to input the code for entrance. Below the red light was a green plaque.

"'ARK, Artifact: 13'?" Shadow murmured to himself. Forgetting his urgent need to find a ship for the moment, he wandered over to the mysterious entrance, eyes flicking to the flashing light above, to the green plaque, to the keypad that glowed tantalizingly in front of him. He raised a hand to press a button, but just before his fingertips reached the first one, a voice spoke to him.

"Greetings, Agent Shadow."

He jumped, eyes widening for a fraction of a second. Ears wiggled and eyes darted as he tried to detect the source of the voice. It suddenly dawned on him that it was, in fact, electronic. Dusting invisible dirt from his chest, he addressed the keypad.

"Um... hello."

"Shall I open the room ARK, Artifact 13 for you?"

"Y... yes."

"Opening ARK, Artifact 13." The keypad lights went out and the metal door rolled up noisily. Shadow stepped through, bracing himself for whatever was contained within.

He did not expect to find the very capsule he used to escape the ARK fifty years before.

Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. I only own the plot.