(( HA! Thought you wouldn't be seeing ME again, would you? Well, here I am! On my OWN computer! With which I am free to do what I please! And if what I please is writing a Sonadow, then sobeit!

Shadow: there she goes again….. Sonic, hand me that aluminum bat…..

A: OH NO YOU DON'T! Else I shall do…….. THIS!

: Sonic and Shadow kiss passionately, the latter squeezing the former's ass….:

Sonic: OH GOD NO!

Sh: ANYTHING! ANYTHING BUT THAAAAT!

Espio: HAVE MERCY ON OUR EYES!

Knuckles: GRAAAAAAAPES!

A: now, I shall have no more violence directed towards me.

Sn::sobbing: we're sorry::sobs again:

A: unfortunately, I've been stewing some different subs in my head for awhile… what is a sub, you ask? Why, it's something like a fic on my fic- an alternate storyline using the same characters (possibly even corresponding to the original storyline). This is why I started writing this! I was thinking about doing this for awhile now, and I'm pulping this out off the top of my head being that all I've thought out on this are maybe a couple character advocacies. They were inadvertent too. Anyway, I was daydreaming whilst typing some script and suddenly, I had created a new character!

Sn: another female, I'll bet.

A: shaddap. Twas an accident. I happen to like female characters….

K: I will not comment on that statement. :coughs:

A: and you'll see her described in the following sub/excerpt/piece of text/document. I don't think it's an actual fic. It may develop into such. Who knows? I'm off on a tangent, so we'll see what unfolds…

;:; Shadow:: humming happily to himself very OOCly: wha? Oh. Right. On behalf of Disneyland, I would like to announce Aeyvi Allen Poe does not own me. Or Sonic. Or anybody else that she has not devised. That is all. ……… why Disneyland though? ;:;

Chapter 1- The Beginning

Through the expanse of time and the cold vacuum of space, we revisit a familiar scene… now only living in memory… his memory…

The events that occurred before his violent detachment with his past still live in the recesses of his intricate cerebrum, whispering to him from time to time… hinting at what he once was….

Let us take a look, then, at this other world long gone; now living only through this particular hedgehog's grey matter….

The lights over the laboratory burned a stagnant white as the good doctor was hard at work.

"Doctor?"

He turned from his recent creation, pulling the paper mouth mask from his face.

"What? I'm busy."

The girl wound a lock of blonde hair around a finger timidly.

"Project Shadow… were you going to activate it?"

"All in due time, you'll see. This project, I'm afraid, is more important."

The girl peered over his shoulder as he returned to his test tubes.

"Which is that?"

"It is none of your concern at the moment. You are in charge of project Shadow. That is your only concern."

She was silent, looking at her sterile shoes for a moment in thought.

"My… only concern?"

"Until I say otherwise, yes. You're to oversee his training, education, diet, his general wellbeing. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but… until he's activated…"

He sighed angrily, setting a glass beaker down.

"Go and monitor his vitals. I'll activate him at 1600."

"Yes, sir." She nodded, turned on her heel and left.

Maria was no older than seventeen at the time. She had only recently graduated her basic training for life on the station, and she was close to achieving her degree in gene manipulation and the results thereof. It had been a harrowing course, and the experiments she had done during it were still freshly sickening in her mind. Still, this was the life she had been given. If not for her grandfather…

She looked down at the small black form in its little capsule. He was just so adorable, she couldn't imagine him being created for destruction… he wouldn't, she thought. Not if she could help it.

"I'll teach you what really matters….." she cooed, touching the glass. "Just you wait…"

-o-

The fluid drained around the infant as Gerald readied the capsule for opening. Maria stood close by, folded blanket in hand. She'd found a baby blue one special for the occasion. He was a boy, after all…

The first thing he felt was warm hands lifting him, the softness of the blanket engulfing him. He took his first breath as he was caressed, and for the first time, opened those big red eyes….

Maria smiled down at the tiny hedgehog, feeling a tear stinging at her eye. She had no idea what would make her cry at that moment…. She felt as if she were looking down at her own newborn child. A wave of warmth spread her cheeks, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"…. Hi, Shadow. I'm….I'm Maria."

He blinked at this, eyes wide with wonder and interest. She rocked him slightly as he was in her arms…..

"Alright then. Take him to your quarters. You'll have to take close care of him till he can walk and be trusted with his own room."

"Yes, Doctor."

The newborn gurgled his first sounds of awe as they passed beneath the green shade of the master atrium. Maria couldn't help but smile as she stepped nimbly from stepping stone to stepping stone. She had helped design the atrium, after all, and many of her hybrid projects lived there. Orchids hung elaborately from tropical trees, cherry trees hung laden with genetically advanced fruit… But by far her favorite part of the lush oasis was the square structure in the middle of it. Her own private apartment. The grey box-like house was surrounded on three sides by large, full lilac bushes in full bloom.

"Look, Shadow! This is your new home for awhile. I had a cradle put in for you and everything! You're gonna love it here…"

The baby blinked up at her in reply.

She melted all over again, looking into those huge, watery eyes.

"They gave you beautiful eyes, didn't they?" she touched his little nose with a finger, scrunching up her face at him. He giggled, reaching up and grabbing her finger with his tiny hands.

She stood there at her door for a moment, rocking the infant in her arms, feeling a strange, strong affection for this small stranger. This, she thought, was the beginning of her new life… as a mother.

-o-

The first cry the child emitted made her heart break. She scooped him from his crib in an instant, warm bottle at the ready. She fed him carefully, swaying back and forth to calm him.

"shh… Shadow, it's all right…. Maria's here…."

He weakly pushed the bottle from his mouth, causing the formula to spill all over his little face, and evoking a new wail of distress.

"Oh, silly, you have to eat!" she hugged the babe closer, feeling like shedding a few tears herself.

"You want me to sing? Is that it?"

She wiped his mouth and chubby little cheeks with a corner of the blanket. He sobbed, rubbing at his eyes carelessly.

"My mom used to sing this one to me…. If… if I can still remember it…."

She hummed the first few bars as the words came back to her.

"Hearts call…. Hearts fall…

Somewhere in the rain

Who knows?

Life grows…

Hollow and so vain…

Wandering in the winter light

The wicked and the sane

Bear witness to salvation

And life starts over again….."

Already the child had quieted, sup-supping every now and then.

"Now the blue skies are all around you…

aaahhh…..aaahhhh…..

Love's shadow will surround you

All through the night….

Star shining in the twilight…

Tell me true

Hope whispers and I will follow

Till you…

Love me….

Too……."

She had closed her eyes to recall the last few notes, and as she slowed her swaying and looked down, she realized he had fallen asleep.

A motherly smile tugged at the sides of her mouth, she bit her lip to keep from giggling. He was just so adorable when he slept…. Like a little black angel. She smoothed his baby-soft quills, petting his cheek with a finger. Never had she felt such a strange attachment, such a connection to anything as strong as this. She felt she would die before she gave him up.

Maria shook her head. Silly girl and her silly little dramatics. 'You've got to grow up, you know. You have a child to set an example for now…'

She laid him gently in his crib, pulling his blue blankie to his chin. She stood there for a moment longer, leaning on the railing and gazing warmly down at her new responsibility.

"Goodnight, Shadow. I know you're going to be waking me up again in two hours, but goodnight anyway…." She hopped on her small bed, watching the infant sleep for a moment longer, then flicked the light.

-o-

"At last…."

The doctor gazed down at his newest creation. Of course, this one wouldn't have powers anywhere near as powerful as Shadow's, but it would definitely serve its purpose.

He pulled a small voice recorder from an inner pocket, pressing in the red button.

"January seven, oh-four hundred hours, Project Eidola. Status: complete. Vitals are strong. Only setback, there was a drastic change in its pigment in the last five hours of embryo development. A chemical reaction in the fluid caused its fur to change from black to red. Note for future experiments- disclude any francium or phosphorus from the artificial embryonic fluid."

He walked around the capsule, smiling at his work.

"Weight- fifteen ounces. Length from head to tail- one foot, two inches. Fur color- red with black rings around certain quills. Eyecolor- amber. Gender……." He paused in his pacing, a smirk crossing his cold features. "…female."

((ahh! And we have the beginnings of a plot! Well, I think I'd like to continue! Don't try to strangle me for abandoning Life As Lived for the moment. I just have an idea, neh. Leave us be. Anywhelp, review and I'll try to update as soon as I have the chance! Chaoness.))

Sn: awwh! Widdle chibified Shady-wady:: pinches Shadow's cheeks:

Sh::punches Sonic squarely in the teeth: WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TOUCHING ME?

Sn::spitting a tooth: don't do it?

Sh: EEEEEXACTLY!

K: ……grapes. Boy this joke is getting old.