Chapter Text
He knew many things.
He knew warmth. He knew comfort. He knew smiles and whispered praises of gratitude. He knew gentle arms, wrapped around his body. He knew eyes of sky and a smile made of a thousand suns.
He knew her .
Maria was many things to Shadow. She was the first thing he saw when he crawled out of his cocoon, at that time being a small blonde child, much healthier than she was now. He remembers how she lifted him up in his arms, uncaring of how slick and wet his fur was from the interior of the small, pale pod. She looked at him like he was everything.
They had grown up together like that. His creator, Gerald, was never as close to him as Maria was. Instead, he was more of a distant father in their curious family. Working, making sure they ate. Running tests. Sometimes the tests hurt, like when he used a needle to draw his blood or gave him a small scrape to test his regeneration, but he put up with it. He was told he was going to save Maria’s life, that he was the cure to all ailments and wrongs in the world- he was the Ultimate Lifeform.
He was going through one of those tests now; he was propped up on a cold, steel bench, his quills spiking against the chill of the air. He slowly kicked his taloned paws, large unwieldy things that looked more like reptilian toes than hedgehog feet. His large, fur, scale, and quill covered tail wrapped around his torso as though to provide warmth, his skin prickling with unease at what was going to happen this time around.
The elderly doctor entered the examination room, smiling softly at the half-hedgehog hybrid. “Shadow,” he greeted. “Did you sleep well?” The creation nodded with a flick of his bent right ear, Gerald letting out a noise of affirmation. “Good, I’m glad to hear it. Are you ready for your examination?”
Shadow stood, as he always did, and went through the motions of getting tested. A few vials of blood from the area in his elbow were collected. A bright light shone in the blind eye situated atop his forehead. His mouth was opened and a tongue depressor inserted so far it made him gag, his twin rows of teeth being carefully examined. His claws were trimmed just a bit, filed down around the edges to keep them safe to the touch. A cold, round and flared metal object was pressed against his chest, hard enough to touch skin and send a shudder down his body while the man before him told him to take deep breaths. Gerald had described this like being a normal visit to the doctor, but he hadn’t quite understood what that entailed. After all, he never saw any doctors other than the genius crouched before him: the one currently offering him a piece of dark chocolate for his cooperation.
He reached out with his hands, grabbing the small treat and shoving it in his mouth with vigor. His ears angled upward as he heard the doctor let out a hearty laugh, a small smile crossing his snout. “Is Maria gonna be better soon?” He asked in a hushed tone.
“I’m sure she’ll be better before you know it, Shadow.” A hand rubbed between Shadow’s ears, eliciting a happy purr from the adolescent hoglet. “After all, you were made to help her.”
By the time he reached his sleeping pod, he had cleaned the residual taste of sugary and slightly bitter candy off of his teeth with his tongue. He yawned as he grabbed the handle to his room, his quills bristling and relaxing while his jaw stretched. He was ready to go back to bed. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard the familiar shuffle of bare feet against metal. He turned to the source, his amber pool eyes meeting a stale green patient’s garb and a gentle face. His face lit up as he wordlessly ran over to Maria, hugging her leg in joyous greeting.
“Oh!” She gasped, her hand moving down to nestle between his ears and a smile spreading her lips. “Good morning, Shadow.”
“Morning,” he mumbled into her leg, breathing in her comforting scent of rosemary and something else distant yet clean. “Are you feeling better today?”
“A little better than usual… still light-headed.” She crouches down until the tip of her large nose — a strikingly common trait along the Robotnik family line — barely brushes his own wet one. “How about you? Are you feeling well?”
“The Ultimate Lifeform never feels any less than perfect,” he chirped, puffing out his fluff-covered chest and resting his fists against his sides. He listened as Maria broke into a fit of amused giggling, a quick peek revealing her snorting into her hand.
“Yes, of course- how could I forget?” She stood up, and Shadow quit his little pose in favor of staring up at her blue gaze. “Are you hungry for breakfast? I hear we’re having breakfast burritos.” Shadow gasped audibly at the words, reaching for her outstretched hand and taking it in his. His sensitive paw pads laid flush against her skin.
“Is there gonna be meat? I want tons of meat.” Meat was always Shadow’s favorite part of any meal. He seemed to always refuse food if it didn’t have any meat in it whatsoever, leading to quite a few frustrated talks with Gerald over his stubbornness.
“Shadow, you can’t just eat meat,” Maria chided him, a common activity before reaching the dining hall. “You need your veggies too.”
“Aww, nooo,” he whined, pouting his cheeks out. “I don’t like the veggies.”
“I thought you liked carrots,” she mused, catching Shadow’s ears pin back as though she said he ate dirt for fun.
“Nuh-uh, I don’t. Whoever told you that lied.”
“Well, then I suppose you’re a liar.” She giggled and raised her hand to her chin, feigning being deep in thought. “Since I remember you telling me that.”
“I’m not a liar!” He squealed indignantly, shooting a hot look at Maria. “Carrots are only good when they’re crunchy.”
“Ahh, there it is. I knew you were just being stubborn.”
“I’m not stubborn, I’m just–”
“Stubborn!” She teased, her mouth spreading in a wide grin. Undesiring a further argument, Shadow crossed his arms, letting go of her hand as they walked into the open cafetorium. He admittedly didn’t hate vegetables as much as he claimed he did, but they still didn’t taste as good as savory meats, or sour treats.
The cafetorium was a large, open room, benches littered in an orderly fashion across the white floors. On one end was a counter and opening to another room, on the other side of which laid the kitchen. He could smell fresh eggs and sausage filling the air, his mouth watering and his tail beginning to wag in excitement. Maria seemed relatively excited as well, especially considering how rare it was to have eggs on the ARK. All food they got had to be transported directly from Earth, so anything that spoiled quickly had to be freshly transported. On top of that, the transporting of goods to and from the ARK was stretched out by almost half a year, leaving them without eggs for a while.
In other words, he was excited to have this delicacy. It meant new books to read, new foods to try, maybe even some new music to listen to. It meant that they were thinking about him and Maria. At least, he thought they were. Maybe they wanted him to go see their planet as much as he wanted to see it himself.
The moment he reached the counter, he put his fingers on the edge, bouncing on his toes to try and get a good look at the freshly made burritos. Maria laughed softly at his struggle, grabbing one of the plates and holding it down closer to the ground so that he could grab it. Shadow stared for a long moment at the plate before him, delicately taking it in his paws and staring at the wrapped item. It smelled intoxicating up close, savory and creamy, a hint of spice from the hot sauce he could see spilling from the open side of the tortilla. He hadn’t realized Maria had moved during his gawking at his food until he looked up and saw that she was gone.
He frantically glanced around, spotting her sitting at a table and watching him with a look of amusement on her pale face. He grumbled in annoyance at the girl, who giggled, and walked over. He scooted up onto the seat across from her with a shuffling of his hips, wriggling into his final spot with a comfortable sigh.
“You really like those seats, don’t you?” Maria asked as she lifted her food to her mouth, mirth dancing in her gaze.
“They’re nice.” Is all he replied with before tearing into his own burrito, his ears straightening as he let out an excited squeal of delight. It was delicious.
He could never get tired of moments like that.
A year had passed since then. He was relaxed, curled up against Maria’s side as he read a new book he had acquired to her. He was made with perfect vision, and taught how to read in almost any language. Meanwhile, Maria’s eyesight was failing her, an IV nestled into her wrist for maximum blood flow and a nasal breathing tube tucked behind either ear and connecting above her sternum. Shadow thought it looked vastly uncomfortable.
Luckily for her, Shadow’s quills were remarkably soft when he was relaxed, and even better yet, a dull, rumbling purr was escaping his body and soothing her every ache. He was made for her, and that sense of purpose made him feel needed, and worth everything.
“The man held the rifle directly against John’s head, a laugh echoing around the empty chamber.” The line read, his voice dramatically carrying every emotion he could get from the little lines on the pages. “Aspen glared up at him and began to grin, knowing that this was their final stand. She walked forward, lifting her head in defiance and pulled out the fake version of the gemstone she had been given, lifting it up before her to show the wicked monster. A fake diamond for her dear friend’s life.”
He opened his mouth to read the next line in the book, when alarms began to blare throughout the space colony. He yelped in startled surprise, closing the book with a soft thump and rushing to put on his rocket shoes that Gerald had made for him in panicked confusion. They were designed for speed, and for his unique foot structure— so they slipped on with ease, especially when he unlatched the inhibitor ring around his ankle and reattached it back on over the tongue and rim of the shoe.
He heard the shifting of bedsheets as Maria rose, her voice laced with a panic that made his stomach churn violently. “The danger alarms… it mustn’t be a hull breach, we’d be dead by now if it was…” He swiftly starts putting his gloves on. “It must be a break-in…”
He moved toward the door with a haste, his ears pinned back as he opened it into the cold hallway behind it. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. How could he? He was born a few years ago, incubated like an insect as a pupae until he ate his way into the world. The prospect of danger was new. His heart thrummed in his ear as the overwhelming blare of the sirens drilled into his head, his quills spiking alongside the drumming of heavy footsteps down the corridors.
He heard Maria wince, his head turning quickly to catch her yanking her IV out and beginning the process of removing her breathing tube. He let out a high-pitched whine, concern fluttering through his chest as she rushed to him. “We have to find Grandfather. He can tell us what’s happening, right?”
With a nod, he grabbed her hand and bolted out into the hallway, his rocket shoes loudly clacking against the cold metal floors, Maria’s feet not making nearly as much noise. He glanced around with a fervor, a familiar voice sounding from down the hall. In a flash of orange light, he raced toward the sound, almost crashing into the wall in his fright. He swerved down a branching hall, Maria’s palm growing clammy in his paw. They spotted the doctor, surrounded by armed individuals. He listened as he approached, his tail twice its size.
“–Robotnik, the Project is too dangerous to be kept here. We’ve been ordered to retrieve it for use by the G.U.N.” His ears pinned back. He was the Project they must have been referring to. “Tell us where it is, or we’ll be forced to find it ourselves. This is not a negotiation.”
“That boy is my life’s work, you can’t just-”
“Non-negotiable, Robotnik.” The man raised his gun. Shadow’s breath caught in his throat. Maria looked terrified.
“The escape pods unlock during a break-in, and both he and my granddaughter know that,” Gerald growled, defiance and hatred lacing his words. “They’re very well gone by now.” Shadow caught a glimpse of his eye below his glasses, a swift glance in his direction. A hint. He slowly stepped back, the clinking of his shoe against metal just a tad too loud.
The soldiers turned, guns raised. He let out a defensive snarl, his heart racing before he charged, knocking a gun out of one of their hands and slamming a foot directly into the nape of another’s neck. He heard a crack, the individual falling to the ground in a slumped pile as he heaved. Did he just…
He was pulled violently out of the currents of his thoughts as Maria screamed for him to watch out. A crack exploded through the air and he ducked just in time to dodge a bullet whizzing past his ear, a loud snarl tearing from him. He had to fight. They’d kill the doctor. They’d kill Maria. He bolted forward, leaping and sending another bone-shattering kick to another soldier’s neck, his eyes darting frantically between them.
He growled, leaping forward once more to headbutt the last man in the gut. He dodged his reaction shot with ease, his boots allowing him to move much faster than their human weapons. He did the same thing with him, leaping and connecting the top of his shoe to the back of his head, no crack being heard. All the same, he fell to the ground in a pile.
The world was spinning, his breathing much too shallow to be able to catch his breath effectively. He felt Maria’s hand land on his shoulder, registering that she was speaking to him, but everything was too far away to be able to understand what exactly she was saying.
“Shadow,” he turned to the voice that had managed to cut through the haze, amber eyes wide in an animalistic fear. “Take Maria. Run–” Gerald coughed in exertion, taking a rattling breath in before continuing. “To the escape pods. I taught her how to operate them.”
He nodded hastily, yelping as the wall crashed open. A golden mechanical being around Shadow’s height stands amongst the debris, blue eyes gleaming against the black vacuum of space around it.
“Go, now!”
He grabbed Maria’s wrist and turned. He knew the doctor couldn’t survive the wall caving in. He had to get Maria out. There was an airlock in each of the rooms, and if he could get her at least two rooms further in, they’d make it.
He and Maria entered, the girl gasping for air within the room. “Maria.” He rested his hands on her wrists, amber gaze trailing up to her tear-filled face.
“Grandfather, he–” She was interrupted by the sounds of screaming from the room Gerald had been in, a slick noise and squelching following. The screaming stopped quickly, fizzling down until there was nothing left. “Oh, God…”
Shadow didn’t know what to do. He knew he had to get to the escape pods, but where they were and how to operate them were beyond him. His hands trembled when he opened his mouth to speak. “Show me which room the escape pods are in.”
He watched Maria slowly nod, her entire body trembling with shock and grief. He felt a squeeze on his right hand, and they began to move, running down hallway after hallway, ceilings of gray and walls of bright white hurtling past them. He knew there wouldn’t have just been three soldiers for somewhere this big, he’s read books about it. He tried to imagine where they would be stationed, his heart sinking as he realized that they’d likely be waiting near the escape pods to catch them before they made it out.
They stopped before a large airlocked door. Maria let go of his hand, ignoring his frightened yelp as she stepped away toward a small panel. She quickly pressed a button, the lock unhinging and opening with a pressurized noise. They were going to make it. They had to.
They stepped inside, Shadow’s quills on end as he took in the gray room. Pipes crawled up into the ceiling from the ground, support structures littered about and railings visible. The room was round, about four doors leading to tiny pods that almost looked like the sleeping pods that he had been living in. He caught his breath, listening to the door begin to close behind them with a creaking noise that bellowed in his chest.
Maria threw her arms around him so suddenly that he almost flailed, his heart refusing to slow despite his best efforts to calm his racing nerves. “We’ll be okay. You go ahead, I’ll set it up for launch from within.” He nodded, and for a brief moment, he pulled her closer, pressing himself into her warmth.
He walked to the small doors of the escape pods and opened it. Behind was what he could only describe as a vault door. He grabbed the pin release lever, rotating it to the right until he felt the door give. He yanked backward, the steel screaming in his ears a bit too loud from being left unoiled for too long, and entered the escape pod..
“Step away from the escape pod!”
His eyes widened. Soldiers entered the room, guns raised.
Before he could register it, Maria panicked and slammed a button on the control panel. The door in front of him closed with a rattling slam, the window to the inside of the ARK his only way to see what was happening. He slammed his fist against the door, ears pinned back. “Maria?! What are you doing?! Maria, open the door!”
She stood by the control panel, brows furrowed as she tried to plan her next actions through and ignoring his pleas. If she opened it now, they would take Shadow and turn him into nothing more than a weapon. She couldn’t let that happen to him.
“Step away from the control panel.”
Her hand gripped the launch lever’s handle.
“I’m not playing around, step away from it now!”
“Shadow, protect them for me. Protect the Earth.”
He watched as she began to pull.
“I said step away!”
Splatters of mahogany red covered the window, a shrill scream tearing from his lips. The escape pod around him shuddered and then launched, going further away, away – his breathing was fast and sharp, registering that Maria had done something stupid, she had locked him in an escape pod and sent him away alone, down to Earth. They were supposed to do that together, this was wrong. Those G.U.N. soldiers, they came in here for him , and in turn, left behind nothing but a dead scientist and the corpse of a little girl.
Black dots crowded in on the edges of his vision, his breathing turned so shallow that he swore he was going to fall unconscious if he continued like that. Maria was dead. Gerald was dead. He felt like he was going to die.
Everything was wrong.
There was a flash of azure light at some point on the way down. Not that he noticed it; he was curled in a ball, his head pounding and his mind in the state where all that can be done is to sit there, too overwhelmed to even cry.
He felt a cool breeze brush along his fur and he tucked his snout below his arm, a low whimper dragging out of him. He didn't remember when he hit the ground — nor when he got out of the escape pod — but he must have if he were here, lying amongst a blanket of scratchy green strands his muddled mind could vaguely recognize as being grass.
He laid there, unmoving for an indeterminately long time, until a choked sob fell from his lips. And then another, and another, and before he knew it a torrent of tears coated his muzzle and ran down to the grassy floor. The dam broke, his anguish ripping through his little form so hard that his body trembled.
He was so lost in his own grief that he didn't notice the soft footsteps in the grass, nor the shadow that blanketed him.
But he did hear the voice.
“Hey, you doing alright there buddy?”