A cold breeze brushed through my fur as I stood atop the suspension bridge. Grabbing that emerald was disgustingly easy, considering this is my first day on Earth. The distant sirens of the police officers were heard. As weak as they are, they sure are persistent.
Another flying vehicle—a helicopter, I think it's called—hovered in the distant skyline, not really doing anything useful. I looked down onto the ground far below and saw the police cars following me a minute earlier screech to a halt at the end of the construction area. All it took to stop them was a gap.
"Hmph, how pathetic." I muttered under my breath. All that chasing just to give up now? They're not nearly as deadly as the soldiers on…
And then it hit me like a ton of bricks; memories of the past. ARK, Dr. Gerald, G.U.N., Maria…
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My mouth was a crib, and it was growing lies…
I didn't know what love was on that day…
My heart's a tiny bloodclot, I picked at it…
It never heals, it never goes away…
-------------I shook my head and looked back down to the humans below; now they were out of their vehicles and staring up at me stupidly.
My memories were still all screwed up from being in that ice chamber so long before that scientist released me, but they're still there. Nothing is ever really forgotten.
Maria…
My soul suddenly wrenched with pain and sorrow as it all came back in one black wave. Everything was so perfect with her, she was so kind and accepting of me and all my opinions and ideas. I don't know how long we've been together on that space colony - all the past years are just a blur now, it feels like I was just born today. But I remember, oh I remember…
-------------
Burned all the good things in the Eden Eye…
We were too dumb to run, too dead to die…
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We were running.
I don't know why, but G.U.N. wanted the ARK shut down fast. Dr. Gerald must have done something they didn't like. Maybe it was me…I don't know…
They stormed the ARK, over a hundred soldiers forcing their way in and trying to take the colony over. The co-workers didn't go down without a fight though. Many of them were specially trained to defend the colony if it was under siege, but they were no use for G.U.N.'s army.
I still remember waking up to the distant explosions, shortly before all hell broke loose. My first and only priority was clear, find Maria and get out of there…
-------------
Burned all the good things in the Eden Eye…
We were too dumb to run, too dead to die…
-------------
I found her easily enough in her bedroom, she was smart enough to stay put. And then we were running; and they were everywhere. They seemed hell-bent on catching us, catching me maybe, over all.
"Find them before they escape!" one of them shouted, their voice barely audible over the sirens and our heavy panting.
'Why were they doing this?' I wondered in my panic. 'What did I do?'
And then they were behind us. Maria was right beside me, holding my hand and trying to keep up with my speed. I should have carried her; I should have done something, but I didn't. I'll always regret that.
And before we knew it they opened fire on us.
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This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
-------------
But we were around the corner that very second, missing the bullets by mere inches probably.
We knew where to go. We didn't have the breath or time to talk, but we knew we had to get to one of the labs quickly. There was an escape pod in a few of them. I quickly searched through my mental map and realized one of them should only be down the hall. We were going to make it…
I felt a huge sense of relief as we got to the door, and I slammed my palm onto the button beside it. It opened quick and silently, and we turned to run to our freedom…
—BANG!
Until suddenly, I heard a scream and felt Maria jerk to the left. My mind instantly filled with terror and I pulled both of us into the room as fast as I could, turning and hitting the lock button. The door closed and locked immediately; they shouldn't be able to get in for a while…
Maria and I stumbled across the lab, trying to get to the controls in the far corner. From below the glass flooring, I saw the Earth. She and I always dreamed of going there. We got to the controls and stopped. I looked into her eyes for the first time that day, they were streaked with pain.
"Maria, a-are you…" I looked down and to my horror saw her torso was already coated with crimson red. I looked back up at her and saw only regret in her eyes.
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I would of told her then…
She was the only thing that I could love…
In this dying world…
But the simple word…
Of "love" itself…
Already died and went away…
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And suddenly she pushed me, and I let out a gasp of surprise as I stumbled backwards, almost falling. My back hit something, and I looked back up at her to see her beautiful, pale face through gritty glass. To my horror I realized she had trapped me inside the pod.
"What!?" I asked in shock as I ran up and pounded my fists against the glass.
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This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
-------------
And she said something. Something that still doesn't make much sense to me, that part is still so hazy. Maybe it was the noise of the sirens and the confusion overlapping my mind. She looked into my crimson eyes—crimson just like her torso—and I stared back into her azure blue ones.
"Shadow…I beg of you…please…do it for me…" she rested her shoulder on the control panel, holding her frail hand over her bloody chest. Her voice was weak; she was losing blood fast…
"Maria!" I cried out again. This couldn't be happening…
-------------
Burned all the good things in the Eden Eye…
We were too dumb to run, too dead to die…
Burned all the good things in the Eden Eye…
We were too dumb to run, too dead to die…
-------------
"For all the people who live on that planet…"
She looked down at the big blue Earth below us, her voice sounding distant and muted. A tear rolled down her cheek and she closed her eyes.
I beat against the glass, trying to do something. She was going to die, and I couldn't do anything, trapped within the glassy tomb. I could stand there and watch.
She looked back up at me weakly. Tears welled up in my eyes at the look of pain on her face. Her mouth opened and she uttered the last thing I heard her say, probably the last thing she ever said…
"Sayonara…Shadow…the Hedgehog…"
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This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
-------------
She slammed her fist onto the switch and then disappeared as the pod I was in shot down towards the Earth. I looked up and let out a scream of pure pain and sorrow as she, and the ARK with her, faded away into space.
I never saw her again.
-------------
This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
This was never my world…
You took the angel away…
I'd kill myself to make everybody pay…
-------------
The police car's sirens faded back into my mind, and I was in the present again, never to return to her, to my happiness, ever again.
"Maria, I still remember what I promised you…"
I clenched my fist and looked forward. From the top of the suspension bridge, the city lights looked like hundreds of tiny stars. Each light a different human, destroying themselves and the world around them every day. Dr. Gerald told us this planet was a wonderful place, a beautiful place. He lied. They all lied.
Those bastards killed her. I'll never forgive them for that…
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Her heart's a blood-stained egg…
We didn't handle with care…
It's broken and bleeding…
And we can never repair…
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And now I remember what she wished for, before she died.
-------------
Her heart's a blood-stained egg…
We didn't handle with care…
It's broken and bleeding…
And we can never repair…
-------------
I'll kill them all, every last one of them. They will suffer for what they've done to you, Maria. Done to us. They'll all suffer…
-------------
And we can never repair…
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"For the people of this planet…" I narrowed my eyes. Nothing could ever fill my heart with joy ever again, thanks to them. I now know what I need to do. I'll make them pay. "I promise you…REVENGE!"