53 Years Ago
June 10 1971
ARK
Maria was happily walking around the ARK with Shadow, gleefully showing him some of the things he hasn't seen yet. Despite Shadow being awake for around a couple weeks now, he still hasn't seen everything the ARK had to offer. Maria was determined to change that.
She was happily talking to him about the various medical halls for the other patients with conditions like Maria when she stopped in front of a closed door. Maria looked at the door with confusion, she didn't remember a door like that anywhere on the schematics of the ARK.
Feeling a bit adventurous, she decided to go inside anyway. Strangely, it was locked, which was weird because aside from bathrooms, (Which this door clearly was not), no doors in the ARK are supposed to be lockable. She looked over at Shadow, asking him to open the door for her. He was clearly reluctant, but Maria lightly teased him into doing it anyway. After the door was forcefully opened, Maria and Shadow entered, Maria looking excited while Shadow looked cautious.
To Shadow, there was a reason this door was locked, and he didn't like it.
Maria and Shadow entered what looked like a large experimentation room, with a bunch of empty vats and notes that didn't make any sense to Maria. Maria turned over only to see Shadow staring at a specific vat that was lit up. Maria quickly walked over, and to her shock she saw that the vat was holding a creature just like Shadow, except not. I think what shadow was based on are called islanders, right? Maria thought hesitantly.
If so, then the thing that was in the vat was a cat islander, with black fur with icy blue highlights. It seemed to be wearing the same kind of shoes Shadow wore, except they seemed to be themed close to… ice skates? It also looked like there was some kind of tiara on the islander's head, once again with the weird ice theme.
Maria looked over at Shadow, who didn't even seem to blink, just staring in mute shock at the islander. "Shadow, that kinda looks like you… Well, if you were a cat, a girl, and liked blue more than red… You don't think…?" Maria started hesitantly. Shadow just looked over at Maria, before slowly nodding his head.
Maria was a bit stunned, wasn't Shadow supposed to be the only one? But the shock wore off and she became excited. "Shadow, you might have a little sister!" She said excitedly.
Shadow could only look in blank surprise. He quickly looked around the room at the other vats, obviously trying to see what they could be used for. Most of them were empty, but there was another vat which was completely covered in a white sheet. He quickly sped over, to Maria's slight surprise, before he grabbed and pulled the sheet, revealing another hedgehog. Just like the cat, this female hedgehog islander was also asleep and in stasis.
Maria walked over, gasping in amazement. "Oh wow. It's like what I would look like if I were an islander like you, Shadow! That's amazing!" She said in wonder. She wasn't wrong, either. The Hedgehog's quills were a light blond color, just like Maria's hair. Her head quills were also pulled back into a bun, but something told Maria that if they weren't, they would go down below her shoulders.
Shadow looked at her, before lightly scoffing, "I'm no islander Maria. You know this. I may look like one, but I'm really no different than the Black Arms." he said, before going into a 'brooding' face.
Maria just looked at him sadly. "Not to me, Shadow. Regardless of your DNA, you're still my friend." She said, a smile appearing on her lips. Then the smile bloomed into a cheerful grin, "And look at this! Maybe you are different, but you're no longer alone!" She said, twirling in place and gesturing to the two sleeping islanders.
Shadow couldn't resist a small smile, but the smile was soon snuffed out by concern. "Perhaps, but why? I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, there should be no reason to make more." Shadow said suspiciously.
Maria looked at him with a cheeky smile. "Well, there are some files in here. Wanna find out?" She said, before hurrying over to a drawer with several files.
Shadow was still a bit wary about blatantly breaking the rules about a project as secret as this, but he just sighed and helped search through files anyway. He never could say no to Maria. It took a while, but they were finally able to find an (understandable) file about the cat islander. It was scrawled with notes by Gerald Robotnik, Maria's grandfather. They both looked through it curiously, with Shadow reading it aloud.
GUN seemed satisfied with Project Shadow, as well as Black Doom. However, they both seemed irritated, and the answer why is clear for both. GUN seemed wary of him, saying that he could be a potentially dangerous weapon. I disagreed, but my opinions were overruled in that department. Black Doom had the opposite outlook, Shadow was perfect for him. However, just one of him seemed to not be enough for Black Doom.
In the end, GUN and Black Doom tasked me with the same mission. Create another Ultimate Lifeform. For GUN it was an insurance policy in case Shadow ever went rogue. For Black Doom? Someone to help Shadow reach his full potential, or maybe even to surpass him. He wasn't picky. I tried to decline, and while Black Doom surprisingly seemed to respect my wishes, (He already had his Ultimate Lifeform, after all) GUN did not.
So I made another Ultimate Lifeform, one who would be similar to Shadow in every way but gender and supposedly, powers. Project Blizzard. However, I have not awakened the second Ultimate Lifeform for security reasons. The scientists already seem wary enough of Shadow, and GUN seemed to realize their mistake with making two potential weapons and declared her to be frozen in stasis for the unforeseeable future. Black Doom didn't pressure me to wake her up, in fact seemed to agree with GUN that she should be kept frozen. Frozen or not, she would serve his ends like Shadow, that being- [REDACTED]
-Just like how Shadow was based on an ancient mural of a golden islander, I decided to base Project Blizzard on another ancient mural, of a purple islander which seemed to be lit up with fire, as if she was controlling it, facing off against what could reasonably be called a metallic army. Astonishing, I must say. Are these prophecies to come, or are they ancient events that have already passed? Regardless, she seemed like the perfect likeness to copy, although I most certainly will be adding a bit of my own flair, of course.
I will admit, Black Doom may have suggested I do this, but I did ask him for a favor in exchange for creating this second Ultimate Lifeform. Enough of Black Arms DNA to make one more lifeform, although this one would most certainly not be as nearly as powerful as the other two. Black Doom seemed to not care, in fact he may have even been joyous at the idea of three [REDACTED] for his ends. Protocol Reincarnation. I sincerely hope I never have to use it, it would be risky and frankly irresponsible of me to activate this protocol. But it never hurts to have some kind of insurance, does it not?
The notes ended there. Maria and Shadow looked at eachother with wide eyes, both equally as stunned as the other at the new information. They then scrambled to find any more notes on what Protocol Reincarnation was, but that seemed to be all the files that were on the subject, the rest just being scribbled full of techno-jargon that neither Shadow nor Maria could make heads or tails of.
Maria sighed, realizing that finding any more information was a fool's errand. She looked at Shadow, who was once again staring at Project Blizzard, that shocked and frankly hurt look in his eyes made Maria's heart ache.
She slowly approached him and hugged him from behind, making him flinch. "I know that this is shocking for you. I'm sorry GUN thought you would be dangerous. But you are special Shadow, and you mean the world to me, ok? I would never think that you were dangerous, and grandfather clearly didn't either." She said reassuringly, making Shadow's tenseness dissipate.
"Besides, regardless of the reason, you have a sister now! She isn't awake, but once those GUN jerks see the good you're doing, they'll surely wake her up in no time! And when that happens, I just hope I'm there to see it, right next to you." Maria said, a large smile on her face.
Shadow looked back at her, his tense face calming. He then looked back at Project Blizzard, a contemplative look on his face. "A sister, huh?" Shadow muttered quietly to himself.
53 Years Ago
July 5 1971
ARK
Gerald ran through the halls, trying to find Maria and Shadow. Everything was going wrong! GUN had gotten suspicious of Shadow, and was now raiding the ARK, killing everyone on board! Those arrogant, controlling, aggressive fools!
Where could Maria be!?
Gerald was scared, no he was terrified that something was going to happen to Maria. If he could just find her, maybe they both could come in quietly! Maybe he could save her life if he just gave himself up… Something! Just please, Maria be safe!
He finally turned a corner into a door that was broken into. His breath quickened. No, no this can't be real. Please let them be fine, please.
He ran inside, only to find a dropped pistol and…
Oh, Gaia no!
He ran over to his granddaughter's corpse, already bled out and cold. He knelt down and cradled her in his arms, sobbing. I was supposed to save you, Maria. I'm so sorry…
He looked around, trying to find any trace of Shadow, who would have clearly died next to Maria if he could have. But he was gone, and the only hint of what happened to him was the pressed escape pod button. Gerald cried all the harder.
THIS WASN'T FAIR!
Gerald sobbed and sobbed, his tears running down his face, until he physically couldn't cry anymore. He just knelt there, his arms around Maria, for what felt like ages, but only for around ten minutes. Then he remembered something, a project he had forgotten about that he made months ago.
Protocol Reincarnation. A fail-safe in case there was no way to save Maria before her disease took her. He scrambled into his pockets, until he found a device that he never thought he was going to use, a simple remote. He clicked a button and a bulb at the end turned on. Gerald spoke into it.
"Activate Protocol Reincarnation, latest memory data. Send the pod to earth, set stasis pod to manual opening only." He said, his voice scratchy and still grief filled. A small robotic voice answered back. "Acknowledged…. Error, pod instructions interlinked with Project Blizzard. Instructions?"
Gerald briefly looked angry, before he reevaluated and seemed to take this as an opportunity. "Link pod coordinates Project Blizzard with Protocol Reincarnation. Same settings as Protocol Reincarnation. Change Project Blizzard parameters." he said, before he heard boot steps outside of the doorway.
"Acknowledged. New parameters?" The robotic voice said. Gerald answered it quickly. "Set new parameters to One: obey Project Reincarnation, AKA Maria Robotnik, Two: Protect Project Reincarnation, AKA Maria Robotnik, no matter what. Manual override all other parameters to zero." He said, starting to panic.
The robotic voice once again piped up, glitching a bit. "A-a-acknowledged. Confirm launch?"
Gerald was about to press another button to confirm launch, when he was roughly pulled on his feet backward, resulting in him dropping the remote. He tried struggling out of whatever grip was holding him, but to no success. "No, NO! Not like this!" He shouted in panicked grief.
Before he could do anything else, he was knocked out by another GUN soldier, before he was dragged out of the room, back to the GUNship that the soldiers arrived in. Unbeknownst to any of the three, the remote landed face down unto the Confirm button, resulting in both of the pods being launched down to earth, in an undiscovered forest. Gerald was to never discover this however, and just assumed that the protocol wasn't activated in time, resulting in both Project Blizzard and Protocol Reincarnation to be destroyed.
Because of this, he created the weapon that GUN so badly wanted. He swore that he was going to make them regret it.
53 Years Ago
July 7 1971
Forest
The two pods lay there, not to be opened unless someone manually deactivated the stasis pods. They have been sitting in the forest for days now, slowly being covered with dirt and sticks, and slowly growing moss. Somehow, still functional. Suddenly, a landslide occurred, burying both the pods under several tons of dirt.
5 Months Ago
February 10 2024
Starline Base Omega
Starline was having some poor luck experimenting with the Warp Topaz. After uncovering it, he has done nothing but try to figure out the Warp Topaz for the past week on how to get it to work properly for him. But it will, if Starline has anything to say about it. He needs to impress his idol, the great Eggman somehow. And if Eggman could conquer powerful gems, then so could Starline. He may never be up to Eggman's heights, but he must be able to at least reach his boots.
Starline once again prepared another test for the Warp Topaz, something simple, just making a portal from one side of the room to another. He activated it, hoping for it to work this time. To his dismay, nothing happened. He sighed before deactivating the Topaz. Back to the drawing board.
Unbeknownst to Starline, buried around 50 feet under his base, two pods sat, undisturbed. Suddenly, an orange portal appeared right beneath the two pods, both of them falling into it and disappearing.
5 Months Ago
February 10 2024
Sol Dimension, Unmarked Island
An orange portal appeared, right over a small island, before two stasis pods unceremoniously dropped onto the sand with lots of dirt piled on. The portal quickly disappeared after that. There the two pods sat, somehow still functioning, although barely.
Present
July 14 2024
Marine the Racoon was feeling great! It wasn't often she got to sail around looking for unexplored islands. Usually, she just spent her time transporting Princess blaze all over the place. But for a few weeks now, Miss Blaze has been spending all her free time in Sonic's Dimension, meaning that she got all the time to explore, like how a proper captain should!
She was currently on a solo outing, searching for smaller, previously unknown islands, when she finally spotted something! She looked through her spyglass and saw a small sandy kind of island that she hadn't ever seen before. And it looked like it had two big mossy rocks on it, perfect for securing a flag between em!
Marine sailed right up the island, docking her ship a small ways away so as to not get caught in any sand bars, and rowed over with a small boat to see the island up close and personal. Once on the island, she made a beeline for the two large boulders, about to try to move em around for a good flag to be set up, when she finally got a good look at em.
"Crikey!" She exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doin in there Princess?" She said, both confused and a tad panicked. Then she looked closer through the (admittedly hard to see through) glass and realized that it wasn't the Princess. The resemblance was striking though.
She looked at the other boulder only to find that there was a hedgehog in that one too. Marine looked at them both and realized that this might be above her purview. "Right well, I think this conundrum is a tad bit outside my pay range. I gotta take these two back to the princess! Especially that cat one!" She said, suddenly excited.
Blaze was gonna be shocked when Marine brought in this one.