Chapter 4: The Death of Maria Robotnik

San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Bridge 5:45 PM

A sunset glow hung on the golden bridge's stone wall that stretched out over the bay in front of them; it bathed everything with a warm amber tint. Below lay darkening waters below as the sun sank further, leaving orange and pink streaks across the sky. It made Shadow look strangely out of place among the city's lights; the sound of sirens and police cars blaring off to his right had barely even reached them, making the atmosphere eerily silent.

"Hmph, how pathetic," Shadow drawled, folding his arms in front of him.

*Flashback*

50 years ago in Space Colony ARK

"Find them before they escape!" said the military running through the space capsule's corridors.

The hedgehog and a human girl were running down the corridor, pursued by several G.U.N. soldiers who were trying to stop them from getting to their spaceship. A young, blonde-haired girl in a blue dress named Maria was holding Shadow's hand firmly, her eyes wide with fear. She was panting through from running and Shadow's fur was plastered with sweat, but they kept going at full speed. They could hear gunfire ringing around them and people yelling. The soldiers fired again, narrowly missing them, then stopped.

"Hurry! We have to run faster! We're gonna if-" Maria gasped as she tripped but Shadow tightened his grip on her. Maria stood up painfully. "Don't leave me behind-" she sobbed, gripping Shadow tighter as the sound of shooting continued.

"Shit," Shadow whispered under his breath. He turned on his heel and began to take his fighting stance, looking ready to fight the enemy. Maria looked at him with wide eyes and clasped her hands together. Her mouth moved wordlessly, forming an 'o', but no sound came out. The three soldiers approached Shadow and Maria cautiously, the ebony hedgehog leaped forward as one soldier tried to fire, and kicked him in the face before punching the second one. Shadow used Chaos Spear on the third soldier, who fell to the floor unconscious.

Shadow landed lightly on the ground, looking back at Maria to see her still standing, staring at him with wide eyes. Shadow walked towards her. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. She slowly nodded. "Good. Let's move."

Maria wiped the tears from her face. Shadow led her along the passage until they entered the main control room. There was a console with various controls and levers attached to it that seemed to be controlling the entire operation of the ship. Maria gasped in surprise at all the buttons and switches, pointing at each one, and asking questions.

Shadow just rolled his eyes in response. "Just follow my lead,"

"In here!" shouted Shadow grabbing his friend by the wrist, and pulling her along behind him as they ran faster than she could run. Finally, the hallway ended at the metal door, which opened just enough for Shadow to shove Maria inside. He slammed it shut, locking it.

Shadow quickly took in Maria's state; she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, her skin pale and clammy. Shadow grabbed a handful of tissue to wipe away her sweat, noticing how much smaller her hands were compared to his own now. "Here," he offered and held out the white wad of tissues. "Use these to clean your face, get rid of any sweat." Maria nodded numbly, taking the tissues and wiping her face. Shadow looked around the room. There were screens everywhere showing images of the inside of the spacecraft, showing where the intruders are located and the ship's systems being controlled.

Shadow booted up the computer, and the screens suddenly lit up with holographic maps with symbols and numbers that Shadow recognized as schematics of the inside of the craft, like the inside of the cockpit. The red dot representing Earth appeared on one screen, the green dots around it moving around rapidly indicating that some of the crew members are attempting to escape, while black dots marked places that weren't currently occupied by the invaders.

"What do we do?" asked Maria as she sat cross-legged on the ground. "Do we try to get out of here, too?"

"We have to get to the Earth safely. Then I will figure something out," replied Shadow. "But first, find a way out of here,"

He pressed the red button as the hatch popped up underneath the door, revealing glass panels covering the top half of the ship. But the pod was so small that it wasn't big enough to fit them both.

"Maria, you go in the pod," suggested Shadow. "It should hold you well enough. I'll stay in here and cover you if anyone comes in."

"But... what about you? You can't possibly protect me from bullets," said Maria.

Shadow scoffed. "I won't miss it, don't worry about me. Go, get out of here," He pushed her gently toward the hatch. Maria stared nervously at Shadow for a moment more before finally nodding and turning to enter the hatch.

Suddenly, the loud banging at the metal door shook the whole space capsule. Shadow jumped a bit before realizing it must've been the G.U.N. trying to break into the shuttle.

A small voice from outside said, "Come out here right now!" Shadow clenched his jaw.

"They're not breaking in," he told Maria. "If we open the door, they'll just shoot at us until we surrender," said Shadow in a calm tone. Maria didn't respond as she continued to stare at him in concern, biting her lip softly. Shadow could see her chewing on it anxiously. He sighed softly, grabbed her hand, and pulled her closer to the pod hatch.

"You need to get out of here," insisted Shadow. "Go, now!"

With that bomb exploded the metal door burst open, and two G.U.N. soldiers burst in. They had rifles pointed right at them. Shadow's hand tightened around Maria's tightly as the G.U.N. soldiers' footsteps pounded on the floor loudly and they raised their weapons. Before they could do anything though, Maria pushed Shadow to the pod door with all her strength, then dove inside and closed the lid. The pod lid was sealed shut, Shadow tried to force it open, but it would not budge despite his efforts.

"Maria!" Shadow called, pounding against the glass. "Open the hatch!"

'Damn it,' gritted Shadow thought angrily. 'Why can't this stupid thing just open!?'

Maria grabbed the lever next to her, the leader of the G.U.N soldier raised his rifle and aimed it directly at Maria, who was about to pull the trigger.

"Let go of that lever! I'm ordering you to let go right NOW!" yelled the soldier. Maria glared at him defiantly and pulled the lever with two, straining in the effort. The soldier hesitated but when he realized Maria wouldn't listen, he fired the gun without hesitation. Maria yelped as the bullet grazed her back, grazing against her spine. Blood began to trickle down her shirt and she slumped onto the floor.

"No!" screamed Shadow, throwing himself at the pod hatch, but it was already sealed shut. "Maria!" Shadow frantically tried to get it open again, but it would not budge.

Maria's hand was still holding the lever, weakly got up, her dress was soaked in blood, and she coughed up blood.

"Shadow..." she muttered quietly, her gaze fixed on Shadow as she clutched her wound with her other hand. "I beg of you... Please, do it for me... Take care of yourself..." she managed to croak, tears swelling in her eyes.

"No, wait-!" Shadow shouted desperately. "Don't die here, Maria-!" He could feel his body starting to tremble as he banged the pod glass, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"For all people who live on the planet, for the world, for all humanity...!" Maria choked up with tears, her voice trailing off. She coughed weakly once more, the blood pouring out of her wound increasing.

Shadow felt the tears rolling down his cheeks. "No, please... don't do this to me..."

"This is for a better future... Shadow, I know you can do it. Just do what is best for the world... Don't cry. I love you," She said with a slight smile. Shadow stared at her in shock and disbelief. His heart felt like it was shattered in his chest, tears falling freely down his cheek as he leaned his forehead against the glass.

"Sayonara, Shadow," She whispered, her words slightly slurred, with that she pulled the lever with her last strength and collapsed on the ground.

Shadow froze for a moment, not sure what to do. His breathing became rapid and irregular as the pain in his chest intensified tenfold, and all his emotions started to build up. He was about to lose his cool and start crying. The pod was finally released from the spaceship liftoff, which threw itself into the atmosphere of the planet's atmosphere and flew straight towards Earth.

"MARIA!" screamed Shadow.

*End flashback*

"Maria, I still remember what I promised you, for the people of this planet... I promise you... REVENGE!" Shadow roared as he launched himself toward the enemy soldier, using his Choas powers to propel himself forward. The G.U.N soldier raised his weapon to fire at Shadow, but he caught the shot with his hand and sent a punch flying straight through the man's head, killing him instantly. Shadow turned to see the other soldiers getting ready to fire on him, and quickly dodged their shots, charging directly at them.

One of the G.U.N. soldiers threw another grenade at Shadow. Shadow quickly dodged and kicked the grenade away with his foot, causing it to explode against a wall with a bang. A second explosion soon followed after, knocking over several of the soldiers, as they attempted to take cover behind pillars or whatever it was they did, but the remaining soldiers immediately took aim at Shadow and started firing at him with their guns. However, he had already begun using his powers to deflect and dodge the shots, using all his energy to fight off the enemies. He was able to get away with only minimal injuries, but there was no stopping the bullets now.

"Chaos Blast!" Shadow cried out, unleashing another ball of swirling yellow light, hitting the closest soldier dead on, sending him spiraling through the air, crashing through the windows of the control room.

The other soldiers scrambled to get away from the attack but were too late to avoid being hit, the blasts ripping through their flesh. Shadow's hands glowed white with intense Chaos Energy and his body glowed red as he charged at a soldier aiming an electric baton at him, knocking him unconscious. Another soldier swung a knife in front of him, but Shadow caught the knife in midair and threw it at the soldier, who fell to the ground.

His body stopped glowing red with Chaos Energy as he looked down at the unconscious enemy soldier, his hands shaking uncontrollably. After taking a couple of deep breaths, he lowered his hands slowly, feeling his body relax slightly.

Shadow took out the green gem and raised his hand above his head, "Chaos Control!" He shouted as he teleported himself, leaving the military and the police force far behind.