A Horrifying, Yet Miraculous, Absolution
Ch. 25
[×]
"The Artificial Chaos came by to visit," Shadow started off their conversation with saddened eyes and a defeated expression. That shouldn't belong on him! "They rambled about being good students and then placed a piece of paper in my hands. It's not binary." The scrap with written words was offered from a distance, and Maria understood it was the flinch of self-fear. "Here. It doesn't partake to me in particu-"
"Did you kill him?" The question was not sharp. Nor judgmental. Nor trying to force an admission of guilt.
"… No."
"Then don't blame yourself. I'm the one that stupidly sprinted my own heart out. Me. Not you." Maria's tone was final – no ifs, ands, or buts. The girl may be bound in her medical bed, stuffed to the brim with saline and drugs (so much so that the rest of the room was a mesh of blobby shapes), but those words held onto steel.
Her brother hesitated and was about to say something to counter because he couldn't get in his head that she truly, utterly completely, hadn't condemned him.
Maria thought she had already taught him this lesson! "Actions over words, Shadow!" A pale hand weakly lifted from her side to reach out and touch him. Petted him. "Anyways, like I said, it was my own fault and no one else is to blame."
He begrudgingly accepted that. She could tell how his ears moved forwards; how he stepped closer towards her. "You died. Briefly." The admission must have been one of the most painful things he said in recent memory.
Maria felt her supportive smile falter into worry. She wasn't immune to that… that phrase. "I… I have to really thank the medical staff." Her weak grasp tugged at Shadow's fingers to bring him ever closer. "How did Grandpa… take it?" When she saw the elder Robotnik, he… didn't mention… that…
A swift, clinical answer. "Unwell."
Oh, her poor grandfather… "He seemed… well, not alright, but alright when I first saw him coming out of my coma…"
"The fast resuscitation helped to alleviate most of his initial shock and horror." There was something else, too, that her brother wanted to bring up, but he shook his head instead. Conflict scattered. "Maria. There's a problem I need to tell you. Something miasmatic."
Her brother was tense. Every piece of fur stood straight up; every quill rose. Not in anger. Not in hate. Fear. He was displaying it to her – something raw. Something he normally wouldn't. This was an opportunity. She was going to snatch it. "I'm all settled in and hooked to every medical item that the ARK can provide." The small area she could reach was the only spot where her brother relaxed. "You can tell me anything, Shadow. I'm not doing cardio anymore," the girl ended with a weak joke.
The moments passed in initial silence.
She heard the wings flapped once, even if she couldn't see them. Nerves. Shadow was nervous.
She validated her read on his emotions when he finally opened his mouth. "Do you know what… a broken, lost man did to my memories in grief?"
He danced around calling Grandpa 'Professor' and… labeled the monster as if it was an object of pity. "Yes. I know about… you being purified." The words were acidic on her tongue, but she kept her movement on her brother's exterior.
"Purified?" The comment caught him off guard a little.
"That's… um. What I remember… um. That's what the monster-"
The cut-in was precise and demanding. "-Man-"
The heart monitor displayed increased numbers. Nothing dangerous. The brainwave detectors also scratched in indication of massive movement. All in all, the machinery spoke the analog answer of what Maria thought of her brother's defense of- "… Man." It left her sick, but if she rejected that appeal to her brother's opinion, she was going to never reclaim this moment. That much she knew. He would bottle everything back into the pressure cooker that was his mind. "That's what that man called what he did to your psyche. Purification. The Sword of Judgement. That man probably had other phrases, but those were the main ones. So, yes. I'm aware of that."
Shadow kept his gaze on hers. "I see."
Maria moved her legs within her cot to a better position while her brother took his needed time to continue. She was patient.
The lights eventually dimmed, which gave her a placement on the hour – near the normal ARK bedtime. Dinner. Twilight. Evening. The end of a bad day, in her case. The start of something fresh on the edge of tomorrow for her brother, she desperately pleaded.
"I was turned pure, then." He wanted to look away. She could see it in his body language. "I wanted to destroy the world."
That's when the floodgates opened and inundated Maria. Her precious Shadow unloaded horror after horror: actions he had done; the sheer amount of destruction he wrought wherever he went; the amount of rage he felt at everything – everyone. There were tales of prisons – her brother locked away near the center of the earth and forgotten – and museums being torn into to steal from. An initial meeting with the mysterious 'Sonic.' Grouping up with a different Dr. Robotnik that was Maria's cousin – cousin? The one Grandpa mentioned before? Why did he go evil? Because that's what this story was devolving into.
It was a horrible, dark fantasy.
An once reality.
Shadow continued and didn't stop. Infiltrations. Manipulation of others: of her cousin, of a future friend that was a bat, of 'Sonic;' of the planet. He dangled the keys of world domination in front of the other Dr. Robotnik to get that man to do her brother's bidding – of collecting each and every Chaos Emerald. He helped to annihilate an entire island filled with people – filled with G.U.N. agents, assets, and secrets of Project: SHADOW – in a column of fire. He saved someone in that exact same moment using his skills of bending reality to his whims because of a flashback to metal halls and blaring red lights.
(She finally found the name to that ability: Chaos Control. He spoke it aloud with a state of emptiness, as if it dragged him down to a deeper, much more awful memory. Maria had thought that skill was an increase to his speed – but to wield time itself? Oh, Shadow. Shadow. Shadow. That was something too dangerous to own. To carry. Grandpa's notes whispered of something beyond mortal comprehension; of a way Chaos Energy could reach what was written in ancient texts as something near divine. Fantastical. Impossible. Something G.U.N. wanted, wasn't it? The boy she knew had been born to be a healer, but was forged into a tool of war instead and-)
(Wait. She had heard that name before. Back in the white area. He mentioned using it to stop time itself to prevent her from going back to the ARK with Grandpa-! She didn't know it was him – his power. She thought it was an item or something the Emerald itself held-!)
He used that skill often. He could ascend from the planet back upon the silent tomb of the ARK – his face when he described seeing the bones of all the victims – the white, empty skeleton of a young girl…
(She had been left behind. They all had been.)
The fantasy continued. Spilled out. Hot. Messy. The anger in his heart grew with each Chaos Emerald slotted into the Eclipse Cannon – something Grandpa hadn't even finished yet to her knowledge. Shadow had ripped apart a section of the Moon, enticing her cousin to bring that final gem. The final item. The final barrier.
Because to eliminate the planet was his promise of revenge. His promise to Maria.
He existed to finish that promise. There was no plan for afterwards.
The young girl wondered if he could hear her sigh of relief when 'Sonic' had disrupted the flow of the Reactor to halt the Cannon's charge against the Earth. Shadow had certainly heard her response – her gasp – of the Biolizard merging with the station and-!
That's why he said it back then. That's why he KNEW.
And he had stood by the window – the one they shared. He wouldn't help anyone. He was fulfilling a promise.
(Shadow was the pure weapon that monster created.)
The spell ended. 'Amy' arrived. This mysterious person that she had once associated with fun, good things her brother had accomplished – concerts, 'begrudgingly' accepted parties, and shopping – was the one whom reminded him of his real vow to Maria. 'Amy' had made him remember her true, tragic 'end' – her actual last words.
The battles came next. Short. Brief. His eyes were filled with intoxication at the mention of 'becoming something more,' but he shut that down faster than anything else. Powered through. He described his back and front talk with 'Sonic' and how they won. Spared the planet. How 'Sonic' gave a thumbs up, a tired smile that showcased the blue hedgehog had believed Shadow had been saved internally; how 'Sonic' turned away to look somewhere else for just a moment…
How a white glove that wasn't her brother's tried to reach out to the other, but couldn't make it.
Then… Shadow's fall. Reentry.
"It was terrible. There was no relief. Just burning away, away; away. I was aware of everything. My body flaking into pieces. My blood boiling in sublimation before evaporation. My muscles dissolving into bone that blackened into ash before all healed and the cycle repeated. At the time, it was the worst pain I had ever experienced – deserved every ounce of it. The final deceleration into the surface as a molten mess of flesh and Chaos Energy that desperately tried to piece the concept of me back together the last thing I remembered…"
By now, Maria had clawed into his hands with her own. "You wanted to..."
Red eyes finally shifted away.
"You didn't know you would have lived-! You wanted to die! Ah, Shadow. My poor brother…" She cried for him. At his lost childhood. At his damage. Big, fat tears rained on her cotton sheets.
It got worse as he pulled out a tissue and carefully dried her stained cheeks. "I forgot my mind when my brain matter soaked the grass around the impact crater." The end was abrupt. "Ah. That's for later. I did restore my memories eventually, though."
And worse.
"I'm not that 'sweet, innocent Shadow' you knew, Maria."
("(Sonic was) a better person than me; a guy who ended up doing the 'right' thing; a hero. You… would have gotten along well with him," a young girl's memory recalled.)
There were more gentle touches.
She didn't know what to say. How to respond. Her- Her brother! He… He…!
"I'm sorry for disappointing you."
She had to speak.
Anything.
If she didn't-!
Say something, Maria! SAY SOMETHING!
Her brother was silent with a posture that was all the volume one needed. Hands touched each of the medical equipment, softly going over her charts that couldn't hide her distress. He wasn't there to stare, however, but to make sure she was alright. Like always. (Did he carry a thought to take care of himself any more!? Or was it so far away from his mind because she and Grandpa were here?)
Maria was frustrated! Open, mouth! OPEN! she begged and pleaded and whined.
"Goodnight, Maria."
She fell asleep despite trying her hardest not to.
[x]
The clock on the wall displayed 0318Z.
Shadow was curled next to her; his white handkerchief loosened by the angle of which his head was besides her. The gentle movement of his chest indicated he was in a state of rest – not exactly asleep, but not fully awake. In the middle, like Maria was at this moment. She could only see the top of his head, but a part of her understood that his eyes were glowing in the dark place.
"Hey."
His black triangle moved to her face. Her brother was ever attentive. The sound of her heartbeats increased on the machinery, and ears soon moved on to analyze them.
A young girl was awake now. Weakness was still the facet of this hour, this second; this moment, but she was no longer tired. Will had to overcome a body's requirement. Her hand reached out with flexed fingers as the strain begun to hurt. It was only when she started to pant did her brother turn to face her.
Shame was all he had. "Do you want me to increase your morphine amount? According to Dr. Eruba, I can only rise it by-"
"Come. Closer."
Nothing.
"Come. Closer."
Still nothing!
"Shadow! Come."
He did.
Fingernails dug into his skin underneath the fur. He had burrowed too far within himself, so she was gonna drag him out kicking and screaming if she had to. "I need you. To Pay. Attention." Maria tried to tug at his muzzle to drag his face closer towards her. He had to play along, however.
At least that assistance in movement was faster than getting him besides her in the first place.
"I'm about. To say something. Kinda not nice," her lungs strained. The tubes in her nostrils forced more oxygen into those tired, sad objects. "If my younger sister. Did what you did. I would be. Angry and disappointed." The female Robotnik didn't need eyes working to see how he took that. Yet, her pinch on flesh increased harder. The strength grew and grew until Shadow had no option but to look at her. "But my sister. You're not. We've been together for. Thick and thin and. Nothing against her. But you and I are closer. I love you. My sweet, little. Brother. I will," words continued as she finally used all that she had, "always love. You. And always. Forgive. Okay?"
Based on the expression, she basically drowned him.
Good.
Let that sink in.
[x]
P-1 chirped to get her attention one morning, a few weeks later. It was mid-December, and she was finally released from the medical wing – although her special gurney was a location she still had to sleep within overnight. And there was still a saline plus mystery wonder drugs attached to her left hand via IV. BUT, considering, this was a massive improvement. Grandpa was treating her like glass again, which stunk, but she understood. Still, she would like to pretend she didn't need her wheelchair.
Considering her brother was pushing her around the ARK earlier in the day, well… Yeah.
"What is it?" Maria asked.
"Did you get our messaGe?" the AI asked once more. In the background, about four more of the things danced around in her play room area of the experimental weapons division. Her brother had brought up some of her music discs and had turned on the roundtable to get sound out for everyone. Shadow was, of course, not dancing – there was no way he was going to accomplish such a task unless she fluttered her eyes and begged with puppy dog lenses.
Which she would have…!
If she could dance with him, you know.
(NIDS was not fun.)
"I might have cut off my brother from delivering it earlier," Maria commented with a nervous laugh. Honestly, if it wasn't for her good memory, she would have forgotten the reason why Shadow had 'allowed' himself to talk to her once again.
She was glad the two of Robotnik siblings had returned to normalcy.
Blue water shifted about. "We will hAve to draw again, then. PenCil? Can we take?"
"Go ahead," Maria motioned towards the 'school zone.' The philosophy books were still stacked on ends, this time opened under a section that discussed 'affection.' They were still stuck on that.
While her water compatriots continued making a mess, she took the time to place her elbows on the small table and hang her head on the upward facing palms. Cyan took in her brother's form, who was looking at something with sharp features. The ridge across his brow screamed confusion as eyes narrowed. She could see his hands be stuck on action: they wanted to reach out to grab something. Probably would have if whatever assumed his attention didn't belong to Maria.
She followed his gaze with hers.
O! It was her father's book! Dr. Robotnik's Guide to the Ancient Civilizations – One Man's True Accounts of His Daring, Yet Foolish, Adventures in the South! The one normally stuffed underneath her Giant Book of Chaos! The spine was unhidden from the shadow of the larger tome since her own research papers was besides her – the title large easy to spot. Based on how fast his eyes were moving right to left, he was reading the-
Wait.
Right to left? That wasn't right-
The wheels of her IV bag holder made dull noises as the plastic circular shapes slid across the metal floor. Her wheelchair masked her efficiency as she crossed the distance towards the object that held her brother's attention. While her fingers picked up the book – the photograph of the ruins from Earth still pretty – she was struck with a sad thought: Shadow slept for fifty years. Her father never had a chance to see her brother, did he? Never got to see how special Shadow was, or how good he could be.
Because even though his 'fantasy' was terrible to listen to… it ended with the fragile flower of hope. The planet was saved- And she remembered what he said in the white zone. A promise for everyone to be happy (for the people of Earth!). It was almost like an Ouroboros: he told her whom told him whom told her whom told him; etc.. That moment when he smiled at her with such a state of bittersweet melancholy HAD to have been later – even though Shadow didn't specifically state it – so that meant that he was… doing her wish. So, he had broken free from the monster's grip. Yes.
(He was still letting it sink in, but he wasn't hiding away from spending time with her anymore.)
… Maria was aware of the passage of time. She had been aboard the ARK for the majority of her life – since the beginning of Project: SHADOW. Years. It was so long that her own father's face had dulled in her memory until this book arrived for her to look at in one of the cover's flaps. Would he be proud of her? How about her younger sister? Did she fall asleep to stories about having an older sister (and not yet known brother) that lived amidst the stars?
Did… Did Shadow get to meet her?
Or had they also…?
Maria shook her head as she picked up the written word. Slapped her cheek with her spare hand! No bad thoughts! When she was healed, they would all go to the planet and meet up! She would tell AND show them how healthy she was, how Grandpa had worked so hard to save her; that everything was WORTH it!
The wheels clanked again as she scooted back towards the spot next to Shadow. Her body flinched a little as P-1 dropped a case of pencils, but she knew they would pick it up. Why were writing utensil so difficult for them, she wondered. Her brother had exceptionally fine motor skills…
"My dad wrote this," she started with a smile. "He's an archeologist and-!"
It was swiped from her hands before she got to finish. The girl hadn't even had time to process a feeling of rudeness – from Shadow, no less! Crimson eyes continued their hasty, erratic movement in the direction opposite from English and she saw his fingers strain against the hardcover.
His expression was… not a good one.
"If it isn't one thing, it's another," he spat out.
As mysterious as ever, Maria tried her best to not be saddened. This… This was her connection to her dad and seeing it get damaged… Her hand went towards her brother's and she tried to get his grip to lessen. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong? Any harder and you'll damage the poor book."
He lessened immediately. It told her that he had no idea of his strength at that moment, other than he had held back because he was very, very strong. The hedgehog could have snapped it in half if he so desired. Shadow didn't mean to almost break her stuff. "Apologies. I didn't realize I was doing that."
"It's alright. Like I said, I will always forgive you."
His gaze went towards the picture of the sunrise over the lip of the white-grey cliffs, not willing to accept – nor, crucially, deny her oath. "This is… Glyphic Canyon."
Maria moved closer, making her and her brother's cheeks touch. He was really warm this afternoon: Chaos Energy hummed almost to an audible level. A quick glance at his Inhibitors told her they were still doing their duty, though. "Yup! My dad spent months deep within the cliffsides to document all the symbols!" She flipped the pages towards the few chapters dedicated to the place on the cover – there were many other ruins and locations, but the canyon was the main character for a reason. "Made from a mysterious civilization that came into power out of nowhere before disappearing into thin air, all we really have left are these ruins."
The carbon black boy remained quiet.
Alright. She'll keep going until he cracked and told her what was bothering him (again). Silly Shadow. He couldn't avoid Therapy Time With Dr. Maria Robotnik. Not even P-1 could, and P-1 was literally water. Although, how fluid could her brother be in 'squid' form? Hmm… That was a thought-!
Gah! She was getting distracted. Cursed drugs! At least the dosage was much less than before. "See here? And…" Her hands flipped through more images and sketches that her father had drawn. They were scanned and printed on these white pages, and if she closed her eyes, she could imagine the man whom drew them so carefully. "… here! And here! The entirety of the place is shaped like a winged creature! And all the doors have this symbol of a strange-looking bird, too! Dad theorized that the civilization worshiped this symbol, or perhaps it held a significant culture importance!"
She tried to look at her brother again. Still no vocal response, but he was burning a hole in her book at each thing she pointed out. So, he was interested in the topic! Aha! She knew it.
Maria kept going. P-1 was already done with whatever it needed to do, but was just as enraptured by her retelling of her father's story: of how the man had fended off bandits trying to steal his notes of the ruins; how a crazed self-proclaimed soothsayer forecasted that death was upon them all by the lost; how the long nights without citrus might have been a mistake; the bugs that were endless and bit through all manner of clothing; the heat of the desolate location that had made mapping out the entire place almost an experience in folly; the totally not treasure hunting that produced gilded statutes of the carved epithet; the endless amounts of windstorms and tornadoes that almost ruined her father's discoveries.
Eventually, she ran out of material.
She could only hope that it had reeled in her brother. It should have. He always had a weakness to listening to her stories of places upon the planet – eyes that would widen as they would share whispers that they would- "When I get better… we'll visit this-"
"Absolutely not. Not there. Not ever."
Cyan blinked.
Her brother scowled and rubbed his digits against the detailed drawings. Maria could tell that he was doing all he could to not tear into the paper, but that didn't answer why he was suddenly angered. It was like he was seeing a memory-
An answer came before she could finish the thought. "This isn't an ancient ruin of a lost nation, nor a location of worship. These are the Black Arms' flying fortresses, designed to be unlocked during the opportune moment and ascend into the skies to rain down death upon every human city."
Wait. Black Arms?
As in…
Her fingers pulled the book away and now she was the one tapping at the photographs in speed and suddenness. "B-But this was carbon dated to be over two thousand years old!"
"That's nothing to Black Doom," Shadow hissed. The P-1s momentarily went on guard behind him before they settled back down. "He's…" Red eyes turned confused as irritation continued. "I am unaware of that thing's true age, but that doesn't matter. I forgot that he would be back here, too – bastar- -being was furthest from my mind." Her brother rubbed his face. "Wait. I woke up early."
"Yes…?" Maria tried to play catchup as her stomach continued to knot.
"He doesn't know. He's supposed to come finish my stabilization before my awakening in the main lab. In January. Abraham saw the exchange during the holiday break. That means he's close. It'll be sometime soon. Sometime around now to the next three weeks."
Woah. Woah! Abe saw Black DOOM? That horrible warlord was coming here? Onboard the ARK? It wasn't just a 'drop a larva and scram' sort of event? She knew Grandpa had done some sort of 'Faustian Bargain,' but not exactly the full extent of the terms! (And the terms didn't matter since her brother won in that field of white and that was good enough for her at the time. There were bigger things to deal with – cuddling a young hedgehog, for one.)
Shadow turned to look at her. "Maria. That was the final straw: the knowledge that the creation of Project: SHADOW was done by working together with the Black Arms. G.U.N. considered my existence too dangerous to-"
Her hands waved towards his mouth and shut it. She gave him a look of nothing but determination. "We'll stop him. The military won't find out. We have Grandpa's back-!"
"I can't 'stop him,' Maria. Not here. Not at the ARK. The collateral damage the fight of his first stage alone would be too much for the station to handle." Gloves held onto frail hands. "Fa- -Professor will know what to do. We need him: to play deflector. To lie. To hide. To create logic fallacies." Red highlights seemed to glow with his movement. "It can't be me because I'm not supposed to be self-aware at this time. I'll only fight if there's no other option – if either of you are targeted for an attack. Otherwise, as much as it pains me to admit, right now we can't afford to deal with him."
P-1 seemed to have wanted to join in on the group discussion as well. "We will help to defend Father from eNemy!" The chorus of the entire collection of the four of them caused Shadow to watch them with careful apprehension. "It wishes us to help this tIme!"
"Sometimes I wonder if Maria truly did teach you guys the proper way to speak," her brother dully commented as the Artificial Chaos squealed at being addressed directly once again. (How in the world has he not yet recognized 'It' was a term used only for HIM – and only him – yet? Purposeful ignorance?) The moment didn't last as Shadow huffed back attention to the young Robotnik. He noticed that she had gotten silent… "What's wrong?"
"I don't like the fact that Grandpa will be alone with such a demon." She was worried. What if something went wrong? What if things didn't proceed as they were supposed to? What if-?
"He won't be."
"But you just said…?"
Shadow slanted his head. "I'll be in the walls. Unseen."
Oooo. Right. Squid.
A sigh. "With the Artificial Chaos." Red eyes watched the AIs in assessment. "IF you can follow my commands-"
The notes the AI synthesizers made were unintelligible, but the expression of agreeing was easy to comprehend.
"Besides. Black Doom is a narcissistic fool. He wants his 'greatest creation' to continue unimpeded. There will be nothing gained for hurting the head of Project: SHADOW." There was a grunt at that. "Doesn't hurt to prepare, however."
[x]
It ended up the note the AIs shoved into her brother's fingers was notification that they, and Maria quotes: picture of a table. Picture of an airlock. Picture of a table leaving said airlock. Picture of table catching on fire as it descended into the Earth with her brother's winged form floating above with a comical expression that oozed superiority. Over a table.
Sometimes she wondered where they gained their intelligence from. Her brother was smarter than… umm…
Well, improvement was improvement!
She felt pretty proud that she had tempered the AIs drive for destruction. Blue eyes glanced at the note again. Well… ok. At least enough.
[x]
Grandpa was working on something in a hooded, vented area. A glass box connected to air fans and isolated circulation filtration system resided before him; thickened rubber gloves the only entrance a human could access. The laboratory was bright and luminous and well organized – Maria could see her own reflection on the floor. Shadow's, too. The sounds of all the equipment ran the gambit in her – some sort of analyzer that was kinda what she was familiar with, only updated to work on the new stuff.
He didn't turn to face them, but his voice carried over. "What is it, you two?" Maria could feel the warmth of his smile even though he was busy at work.
"You… working on something dan~ger~ous~?" the young girl asked in a sing-songy voice. She knew the answer was 'yes' – that black fluid looked thick and viscous and so, so wrong. It sparked and sparkled in the light, reminding her of low viscosity tar. Was it flammable? Toxic?
There was a hum. "Not really."
"Liar," Shadow commented without bite.
"Grandpa's pants are not on fire," she stuck out her tongue.
"Hmm." The taller Robotnik slightly shook his right leg – the shined shoe reflecting the ceiling. "Doesn't look like it." Maria watched his hands finish whatever he needed to do inside the glass box before he turned around after extracting them. The spectacles were readjusted. Grandpa looked a lot better now that she was able to wheel around the ARK, IV bag or not. The lines on his face were relaxed; shoulders not tensed and risen; back straight and true.
Maybe she could hold off telling him for the news for a little bit. Evening? Yeah. Evening sounded like the right time.
And that period eventually arrived.
It was when Grandpa stood over the two of them, having tucked them in for bed. Shadow didn't accept it willingly, but Maria dragged him besides her, whispering that P-1 had the elder's back when the hedgehog had hers. Both were aware that was the setup her grandfather would have wanted. Also, if she looked closely, you could see a boy blush.
He was so… oxymoronic at times. (But she treasured him for that, too.)
"What bothers you, my dear?" Grandpa started.
She told him a super edited version. How she had dreamed of seeing a large Devil with horns attack the eldest Robotnik in a quiet and empty hall. She described the warlord in control vagueness because to be too descriptive would make the adult wonder how Maria found out in the first place. Her hands waved around as she finished the tale about 'deals with suspicious people needing to be carefully maneuvered' and 'Grandpa was the smartest genius ever and would know what to do!'
Because he was.
"Ah." He pecked her on her forehead. "Don't worry, my dear. I haven't-" He tilted his head in a manner like her brother did (was Grandpa the one the hedgehog picked that action up from?) and readjusted his spectacles. "I will make certain to be careful and watch out in case I run into an alien jingoist from your nightmares."
(Huh?)
Her brother answered. "You better not see this nightmare without me nearby."
There was nothing Shadow could do as he also received a peck on his quill. "I won't. However, Maria," Grandpa changed targets, "you, on the other hand, are to stay far, far away. Even in your dreams."