Chapter 7

Prison Island, 1950

Shadow lay on the floor, a pool of blood forming under his skull.

"Time of execution, 9:57pm."

Then the hedgehog began to cough. His body twitched and his hands pushed against the floor shakily.

"What? He's moving!"

Shadow pushed himself onto his knees, looking down at the blood puddle below him.

"Green," he said, trembling. "My blood is- BLECH!" He vomited, adding to the bodily fluids on the concrete floor.

"We must been unlucky, shoot again." Shadow heard them say. He gasped and grit his teeth, but before he could look up, he was shot again, several times and collapsed again, face down in his own blood and vomit.

There was a few moments of silence, but the hedgehog's eyes shot open again. He cried out and pushed himself back, then put his hands over his shut eyes in pain.

"It burns!" he cried out. Opening his eyes when face down in his vomit hadn't turned out so well.

"Darn it. We need to try some other methods." Shadow shakily removed a hand from his left eye and looked at the humans in the room. "Prepare the Electric chair." The hedgehog's breath was caught in his throat.

…

Space Colony ARK, 2000

"I know that they took like, 8 attempts to kill you," Sonic said. "You survived all of them miraculously. You're like, invincible or somethin'."

"If I was invincible, then it wouldn't have hurt," Shadow said firmly.

"Shadow! Are you going to answer me or not!" Eggman's voice sounded from the communicator again. Shadow growled in irritation, ripped it from his wrist and threw it against the wall.

"Let's get out of here, it's probably unstable," Shadow said. "Since you blasted the place," he added bitterly.

The two of them walked in silence along the long path on the outside of the ARK. Shadow kept his head pointed at the floor.

"Somethin' botherin' you?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing I should tell you," Shadow grumbled.

"You should join us," Sonic said. "We could use someone like you."

"But I thought you disagreed with my methods," Shadow said.

"Your methods are alright," Sonic said. "If they're not used on innocent people. Try… Egghead."

"You want me to blow up the Doctor?" Shadow asked.

"Nah. Just his property," Sonic said. "Until he's got nothin' left to fight with."

"So he can get more resources to fight you," Shadow said. "You do realise it would be easier to just kill him, right?"

Sonic shook his head.

"I'll never kill," he said. "Never."

There was another moment of silence.

"So, what's it like to be frozen?" Sonic asked.

"Again, painful," Shadow said simply.

"I guess you'll be tryin' your best to stay away from the Government then," Sonic said.

"Yep," the hedgehog said and stopped. "Which means staying away from you." He leant back, falling off of the walkway flawless. Sonic swung around and ran to the edge, looking down to see Shadow's slowly floating towards the Earth below them. "You didn't think I'd guess that GUN made a deal with you when you supposed 'escaped' from prison," Shadow called up to Sonic. "No one escapes from Prison Island. Not even me."

"And yet you did," Sonic said.

"With the Doctor's help," Shadow corrected. "Sayonara, Sonic!" The hedgehog's voice grew quieter as he was slowly pulled down by the weak gravitational pull of the planet below.

"See ya later, Savla… Salvatore," Sonic said softly as the other hedgehog's body lit up in flames as it hit the atmosphere.

…

Space Colony ARK, 2001

"You were right," Shadow said solemnly. "All of those things you said about me were true. I… tried to destroy everything in a desperate attempt to escape." The Commander stood in front of him, astonished that Shadow had even admitted it. "You were damn lucky to have missed the explosions-" Shadow stopped and looked up as the Commander clicked his gun.

"Don't mock me," he said.

"Go ahead. Shoot," Shadow said. "I'll just wake up again in a few minutes."

"If that's the case, why did you need to escape so badly!?" the Commander yelled. Shadow was silent. He gulped and looked down, feeling dizzy from guilt and anxiety.

"I was told I was going to die," he rasped.

"So you decided it was us or you," the Commander said angrily. Shadow nodded. "Coward." The hedgehog grit his teeth. "You thought that you were going to be executed again?"

"Not… exactly…" Shadow hesitated.

…

Space Colony ARK, 1950

Shadow was shocked into silence over the news he'd just been told.

"I'm… immortal," Shadow said. "That blood made me immortal?"

"Yes," Gerald said. "The immortality comes with a flawless immune system. I needed to create one for my granddaughter Maria."

"Of course… that Maria girl…" Shadow said irritably, but his tone changed suddenly. "I suppose I owe her. I've benefited from this too." The hedgehog looked smug and proud, but not for long.

"Oh no. When I give Maria this immune system," Gerald began explaining. "You'll lose yours, completely." The hedgehog stared in horror. "And you can guarantee we won't be making efforts to keep you in sterile environments." Shadow felt his blood go cold. "You will die."

…

Space Colony ARK, 2001

"That was still no reason to kill everyone in sight!" the Commander said, tightening his grip around his gun. His hand shook in anger.

"If it'll make you feel better… just shoot me," Shadow said and held his arms out. "I deserve it."

"Why have you become so remorseful all of a sudden!?" the Commander said. "You don't fool me at all! This is all an act so I feel sorry for you!"

Shadow looked down in shame.

"I've not quite gotten all of my memories back yet. I'm still not me. I'm still not the murderer I was before," Shadow said, his voice trembling slightly.

"And when you do revert back to that evil mentality again?" the Commander questioned irritably.

"You need to freeze me before then," Shadow said. "It's the only way that I can fulfill Maria's wish."

BANG!

Shadow coughed blood over his furry white chest. He looked down in shock, a gun wound.

BANG!

Shot again. Shadow fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain. Green blood spilled onto white gloves gloves, staining the material.

"Th-this feels… familiar," Shadow rasped as he felt himself go weak. He fell even further, his palms scraped against the rough concrete, saving his face from impact. He coughed again, splattering more green goo onto the floor.

He blacked out for a few moments, and woke up in the Commander's arms. He was being carried towards a ship.

"Gah…. hurts…" Shadow groaned, then gasped as he felt the wound close up. "You're taking me to Prison Island."

"Correct," the Commander said.

"I thought I…"

"The underground facilities are still in tact," the Commander said.

"And that includes… the cryo-chamber," Shadow breathed. Then he closed his eyes in acceptance.

Shadow stayed silent the whole trip. As they pulled into Prison Island, the Commander yanked Shadow up by his arm and pulled him towards the door.

"Enjoying yourself, there?" Shadow mumbled. "Have your fun hurting me now. It won't last long."

"Longer than you think," the Commander said with a smirk. Shadow looked up at him in confusion. He was dragged into a room. This one was different to the one he was expecting. There was no cryochamber, instead, there was a desk and two chairs. "Time for questioning."

"Questioning? You know I'm guilty. I confess to everything just… freeze me now," Shadow said urgently. The Commander pushed the hedgehog down onto the chair, forcing him to sit down.

"No. What you said earlier about Maria made me think," the Commander said and sat in the chair opposite. "You've changed."

"I forgot my old ways. But I know they're in here somewhere," Shadow said and pointed to his head. "They could resurface at any time."

"That's not what Maria asked of you," the Commander said. "What was Maria's wish, Shadow?"

"Equality," Shadow said.

"We can start reaching that if I hire you on my team," the Commander said. "You'll work alongside humans, and treated as if you are one." Shadow looked at the Commander in surprise. "It's time to start paying society back for all of your wrongdoings, Salvatore."

"It's Shadow," the hedgehog said as he closed his eyes. "And I accept."

THE END