Chapter Text
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...
...
Release system initiated.
Project Light awakening.
Please stand by.........
Vital signs normal.
Chaos energy stable.
Stasis tank opening.
Release successful.
Maria opened her eyes slowly, before she hissed slightly and closed them again. Had the labs always been so bright?
"Careful." An unfamiliar voice said. "We have no idea how long you've been in there and your eyes need to adjust."
In there? In where? Her memory was a little hazy.
After a bit, she opened her eyes again. It was still way brighter than it had any right to be, but it was at least manageable. And she immediately noticed this wasn't any lab on the ARK, at least any she was familiar with. The next thing she noticed was the figures in front of her. A Mobian Fox and....
"Shadow?" She asked.
"Nope." The hedgehog said. "Not the faker."
If the voice didn't tip her off, her now adjusted eyes noticed, in surprisingly high detail, that he looked completely different from the hedgehog she knew.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She apologized.
"Wait, how do you know Shadow?" The fox, she just noticed he was taller than she thought he would be, asked.
"He's my brother." Maria answered happily.
For some reason, both their eyes widened and they glanced at each other. "That's cool. I'm Sonic, and this is my little bro Tails. What's your name?" Sonic asked, sounding a little nervous.
"I'm Maria. Maria Robotnik." She grinned.
"Oh Gaia." Tails muttered.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked, confused.
"Maria, what's the last thing you remember?" The blue hedgehog asked.
The last thing she remembered? "Well, I was on the ARK with Shadow...." Then what happened?
Find them before they escape!
She gasped. What?
Maria!
Shadow?
Shadow, I beg of you, please do it for me... for a better future! For all of the people who live on that planet... give them a chance to be happy... let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.
Maria!
Bang.
Maria's breathing picked up. Her hands flew to her mouth.
"Hey, hey, breathe for me. Can you do that?" Sonic asked.
She tried, she really did try, but the memory hit her like a train. She remembered running. She remembered saying goodbye to her brother. She remembered being shot! How was she here?! More importantly...
"What happened to Shadow?" She asked.
"That's a long story." Tails winced. "Maria, you haven't seen him in over 50 years."
50 years!? That was impossible! She felt her quills spike up at the thought that she missed so much of her brother's life. .......Wait a minute, her quills?
She had been so confused she hadn't noticed, but she did now. She looked at her hands noting the difference, her skin, now sporting yellow fur.
"I need a mirror!" She exclaimed.
The duo looked at each other before the older of the two told her to turn around. She did so, a tank not to dissimilar to Shadow's greeting her, and she saw a face she didn't know but knew intrinsically. A yellow hedgehog with blue eyes stared at her, mirroring her movements, her expressions.
"What....happened to me?" Maria asked.